The Resolution
by K.B.Maillet
Summary: Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you when you've fallen so far, you hit the grounds you've original built yourself so hard that they shatter and leave you with nothing. (No Pairings)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and NO PAIRINGS

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro.

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_Pinch me, I must be dreaming,  
>Is this what its like to fall?<br>Such a freeing sensation,  
>But in the end, still it hurts<em>

_The grounds more solid after all_

** Chapter 1: Falling from Afternoon Skies **

_I resolve this year to finally take a step forward to my dream!_

It was the last thing I remembered saying before waking up to find myself falling from the sky, the wind whistling loudly in my ears as strands of dark blonde hair came undone from my floppy bun to tickle my face, feeling the sensation of free falling and unaware of the ground approaching quickly.

It had been New Year's Eve at the my family's house, our parents having already called it a night which left myself and my two younger brothers (not so much little brothers anymore, one being 9 inches taller than myself and the other still growing) the only ones awake. I went there every year since moving out for every major holiday, wanting to spend time with my family and away from the stressful world. Every year though was the same, someone would end up arguing with another which left the rest of them in the cold and tense silence. This year, it was my brothers and I.

The night was spent mainly in silence, each of us having a quarry with the others. The bitterness of the past week still there among us siblings as we watched reruns of the _Walking Dead_. Of course, being siblings (and considerably close in age), it was like second nature to argue over the petty stuff. No family was perfect. Everyone argued and therefore there should have been no big deal when the heated words (_bitter, lousy, stupid words_) were over and done. Yet there are times, much like this time, were things so hateful are said and leaves everyone feel all too much like broken glass (_clear, sharp, shattered_).

_I'm sorry, I'm so very sorry, I didn't mean any of that..._

I thought too often of apologizing yet I never uttered a word, knowing perfectly well they would neither accept nor return the same to me. Why should they when I was the one who hurt them just as much as they hurt me. It wasn't fair but it wasn't right, it was just all too wrong. It stung bitterly, making my chest tighten uncomfortably and I glared at the zombies reaching out for the flesh of those who passed by.

_Those shitty idiots..._

When it was close to midnight, I sleepily gave my whispered resolve for the up coming year. Whatever happened after that was all a haze, I didn't remember a thing.

Honestly, I didn't even remember falling asleep. My next conscious memory was seeing clear blue skies above, white clouds floating along as the sun shined down its rays and I felt its warmth kiss my pale skin. It was serene and peaceful and a part of me felt like she was dreaming.

But then the white noise that was muffled in my ears became clear, the falling sensation made my skin prickle uncomfortably with dreaded fear. As my dark blue eyes widen, I began to twist and flail about, like a cat trying to correct itself to land on its feet. My mind didn't registering where exactly I was falling or even what my surroundings were as I fell, now seeing the ground coming ever closer, for all I could think about was that I was _actually falling from the sky_.

With nothing left better (or sensible) to do, I opened my mouth and swore before finally colliding with dusty but solid earth.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

"Oi, woman! Wake up already!" The voice was deep (_frantic, worried, __panicking_) but muffled as I started to come around. I wondered briefly how long I had been out only to snort in amusement.

_Twice in a short time, hopefully the third time isn't the charm..._

Slowly, as if unsure if I should even move at all, I pulled my hands underneath me to push myself off the ground but stopped to let the dizzy sensation pass. My left side ached, muscles stiff and no doubt bruised, but other than that...I had no broken bones. It was strange, but I chose not to question such wonderful luck. I closed my eyes and sighed, trying to remember pass my memories of falling.

_Arguments__ about finances and responsibilities..._

_The turkey dinner held in silence and bitter disappointment in such loving eyes..._

_Unbroken tradition where they would have been laughing and telling stories..._

_My resolution, my desires, my hopes, my dream..._

I frowned, wondering why I couldn't even remember falling asleep. I sat on the ground, holding my head and forcing my mind to dig deeper but only achieved an even greater headache. It was then I heard and remembered the voice as I had been waking up, "Come on and answer me!"

"Huh?" I said dumbly before turning around, not expecting to actually see someone I knew but who definitely wasn't suppose to exist, "What the hell?!" If I had been standing, I would have fallen right back on my bottom.

The man tied to the cross was glaring harshly at me with silvery grey eyes, covered in dirt and what I suspected was blood. His shirt, once white, was filthy and even though it was hard to see, the same went for his black pants which were tucked into black boots. A black (_or was that just a very dark green?_) bandanna covered his head but I could still see strands of minty green hair that stuck out from the bottom and sides, standing out against his tanned skin. He wore a green haramaki (or stomach band) and on his left ear were three golden, teardrop-shaped earrings.

It was the Demon of East Blue himself, Roronoa Zoro.

I felt slightly ashamed of the feeling of fangirling came around but managed to squash it down...for now.

"What the hell was that all about?" He growled out, obviously annoyed and irritated with me, who just stared at a man who sure as hell wasn't suppose to be there. We stared at each other for a moment before he raised a brow, "Well?"

"Ah yeah, sorry if I woke you up...I umm...am not too sure myself what happened." I gave a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of my head and completely unsure how to deal with this whole situation.

"It doesn't matter, just get out of here, kid..."

_Kid?_

I knew I might have looked young but I sure as hell wasn't a kid. I had _breast_ for Pete-sakes. Favorite character or not, I didn't like being called a kid, "I'm not a kid, jerk..." I muttered bitterly, standing up and brushing off the dirt that littered my white blouse and black pinstriped vest, luckily I didn't care too much about my faded blue jeans but looking down at my grey socks, I wished that whatever brought me to the Marine courtyard had also transported my shoes too.

"Like I even care, kid, just scram..." Zoro said, tired and irritable. I turned to glare at him, wondering slightly how long he had been tied up for.

"I'm 21 years old, I'm not a freaking kid, moss-head!"

"What did you call me, woman?"

"Oh look, seems a grew in status." I cheekily said, grinning with satisfaction. The swordsman only stood (or...slumped) there, turning his face away from me and grumbling under his breath. I looked around, the surrounds so familiar and yet so...different. It was strange to see something I once saw as a cartoon as something real, "How long have you been tied up there?"

Zoro regarded at me curiously, "Why would you want to know, I said for you to-"

"Scram? Yeah, yeah, I know. Look, if you tell me how long you've been tied up there then I will leave, deal?" I wasn't stupid as to where I was, I was in Shells Town and that I was in the Marine base controlled by Captain Axe-Hand Morgan...but at what point of the story was I at? I knew that Zoro wouldn't want me to stick around (as much as I would love to hang around with him), though whether if it was because he was concerned about the Marines finding me or whether he actually just didn't want me around, I wasn't sure. Placing my hands on my hips, I gave him the same stern look I would give my brothers when I try to reason with them seriously, "All I need to know..."

Zoro glared at me and despite knowing him fairly well, I flinched and felt his glare cit through me like one of his katanas. He said nothing, stubbornly, and I threw my hands up as I rolled my eyes, "Lord, you're being a baby. Its not like I'm gonna tell anyone! Geez..."

"I'm not being a baby, brat!" I could have swore I saw him pout right there.

"So now I'm back to being a kiddie status?"

"Just get out of here!" I should had realized that he wouldn't help me, him and his pride. It was going to get him killed one day but I stopped that train of thought, not wanting to remember _that_ incident. It was hard for me to believe that this stubborn man would one day be the most loyal first mate the pirating world would ever meet.

"You don't have to be a jerk about it!"

"I wouldn't have to be if you would just listen, Blondie!"

"My name is _Amber_, moss-head!"

Then I saw him tense and for a moment, I thought it was because of my name. Did he know me or something? I hope it wasn't like with Tashigi...

"Look, I don't know where you came from or why you fell from the sky but you better get out of here or I'll kick your ass!" Zoro growled lowly, his glare now stern and sharp, unlike the menacing one that promised a world of pain from before. I was confused, still slightly annoyed, but terribly confused. I could hear the faint urgency in his voice and something clicked in my mind.

_I made you some rice-balls!_

_Don't make me kick your ass, little girl!_

"Someones coming!" I panicked, my eyes darting around in search of a place to hide since I knew there was no way I could escape in time out of the courtyard. No wonder Zoro had been yelling at me to leave, he knew they were coming and I would be caught. I was mentally kicking myself before spotting a stack of crates on the far side of the courtyard, behind Zoro and close to the Marines' Fort. Running as fast as I could, I dove behind the crates and thanked myself for years of playing softball to be able to run and dive quickly. I peeked around the corner just enough to see what was going on but from where I was, I could hardly hear a thing. I picked up a word hear and there, breifly letting me know that they were asking Zoro about me, if he had seen me and if he knew where I was.

I knew he wouldn't rat me out and that actually worried me. Even if Hellmempo wasn't with them (which actually surprised me that he wasn't there but then figured he might be in town), I doubt they would be gentle in getting answers. To my unfortune, I had been correct as one of the Marines slugged Zoro right in the face while the other two laughed, like it was a game.

Oh course, I felt guilty, thinking that if I would have listened sooner that the Marines wouldn't have shown up. I let my temper get the better of me once again and someone got hurt.

_Why do you have to be so stupid?_

_Me? You're the one who flipped out!_

I prayed that my brothers weren't worried about me back at home.

_I'm sorry, so very sorry..._

After a moment longer, they left, chatting happily like heroes coming back home from war and they came out victorious. It made my anger flare as I glared at them, making sure to come out of my hiding spot after I made sure they left. I glanced at the pole, only seeing Zoro's back, and my stomach clenched uncomfortably, "Zoro?" I asked tentatively, slowly making my way over to him. He didn't move, didn't respond, and my worry grew even more. I stopped a few feet away from him, still unable to move myself around in front of him. I frowned, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean..." Sorry wouldn't do me any good, the damage was done and words weren't going to help.

An idea came to mind and I turned my gaze to the fort behind me, "If words aren't going to help me then I am going to take action..." I declared, "I'll be right back, Zoro. Take care for now!"

With that, I ran towards the Marine Fort.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>Amber sneaks around the Marine Fort!

**Hope you guys enjoy this!**

**F.R.F.**

**Maillet**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and NO PAIRINGS

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro.

PS: Thank you Safety31, your a wonderful little brother 3

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_Look up to see stars,  
>Think of the impossible,<br>And then you'll dream  
>As the stars see them too<em>

** Chapter 2: Kept a Word and Shoes**

_You would think that a Marine Fort would be more heavily guarded than this..._

I stayed low and crouched behind a stack of crates, waiting for a chance to sneak pass the two Marines who were idly chatting who were patrolling the halls. I had decided that I was going to help Zoro in some way though how, I wasn't all too sure. I knew he was too high strung on his honor to accept any help (or listen to anyone, for that matter), but I was at least going to try. Not only that, I realized my situation, that I may not be home anytime soon. I had nothing but the clothes on my back and two sticks of gum, I didn't even have shoes. I needed a few things and the best place I could think of at the moment was the Marine fort itself.

I was thankful that the floors were made of smooth stone and that I had at least my socks on, I knew how to sneak around quietly enough to not be noticed too much. I wasn't perfect, but I was good. In my mind, I kept telling myself it was like a game of hide-and-seek (except without the _seek_ part).

They finally passed me and I quickly went from my hiding spot and turned right, in the opposite direction of them. I quickly pulled myself around the corner, hearing no one coming down the hall just yet, "Good, I rather not share a post with Zoro."

As much as I love the guy, he smells like a funky-town.

_He needs a bath...like in Alaba- No! Do not go there right now, bad Amber!_

I sighed quietly before picking a door and slipping inside. The room was small, with a row of bunk beds on either side and a window at the other end of the room. I hummed, figuring I ended up in one of the sleeping quarters and shrugged. At the end of each bunk bed were chests, no doubt with the bed owner's personal belongings. With a grin on my face, I walk over to the nearest one and begin to look through it. I came across some shoes but they were too small, there was nothing else interesting in it so I moved onto the next one.

It took me around 15 minutes to look through all of them and in the end, I didn't find a pair of shoes but I did gain a compass and a collapsible telescope. I also helped myself to one of their travel packs and stuffed a few shirts in it. Jeans were durable enough where one didn't have to wash them as often but shirts tend to stink more. I also made sure to grab a few for Zoro, thinking he might appreciate some clean clothes too. I waited until I knew the coast was clear and slipped quietly out of the room, trying to see if I could find a kitchen.

_All I have to do is follow my nose..._

The next door I went through though wasn't the kitchen, it was a bedroom that seemed vaguely familiar but for the life of me, I couldn't remember, "Awfully girly though, maybe its a woman's bedroom." Course I didn't see why they would give women Marines a special bedroom if the males didn't also have one too, not only that but I doubt Captain _Ass_-Hand would do such a thing.

As I glanced around the room, looking through things, I found three certain somethings that every fan would die to have.

Zoro's three swords, the two nameless ones and the famous Wado Ichimonji.

I couldn't help but to stare, fascinated by seeing the real thing in person. The hilt of the sword had a white material wrapped around it, leaving a dark grey diamond-shaped patter running down the hilt where the material didn't cover. A polished metal cap, yellowish-tinted in color, was secured on the end of the sword. The hand guard had the same type of metal though I wasn't sure what type of metal it was. The sheath it was in was also white but well kept, so clean and pure looking.

I couldn't resist the temptation and I set my new travel pack down, grabbing hold of the sheath and pulling free the blade. The well kept but sharp blade caught the light and glinted, I watched the the light move with the blade as I slowly turned it around in my hand. This, I knew, wasn't a toy nor some cheap kind of sword so I decided not to test it out. Besides, if anything, I was more of a knife thrower than a swordsman.

I _really_ wanted to use this sword though.

With a sigh, I set it back into its sheath and carefully placed it back where it was. As much as I would love to give Zoro his swords, Luffy was the one who needed to give them to him. If I gave Zoro his swords (even just Wado) then Luffy would have no..._leverage_...to get Zoro to even join. I grinned, I couldn't wait to see that in person though.

After saying a quick prayer to Kuina, I looked around the room more and added more things to my travel pack. I was glad to finally find a pair of shoes that fit me, as ugly as they were, they would do for now. At least they were comfy and in good condition, I wiggled my toes in satisfaction when something dawned on me...and I slapped myself so hard in the face, I would have probably broken my nose if the cartilage in it wasn't already so short.

"I'm such an idiot!"

I was in _Helmeppo's _room!

How I didn't get that when I saw Wado, I didn't stop to consider, only continued to search around as I grumbled about distractions and shitty fate.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

The kitchen was actually easier to find than I had originally thought (located in the center, middle floor) and with the keys to every lock in the fort that I found in Olive-head's room, I was pretty much styling and happy as can be. Of course, I knew that I wouldn't be able to get into anything too serious (like a certain vault in a certain office) but it didn't matter. I wasn't looking to change the story, the history, to gain anything...I wanted to return a favor. Zoro helped me so I was going to help him!

I was nearly done my checklist too. I had clothes, a compass, a telescope, shoes, a small first aid kit, a blanket, and even some beri. All I had to do was to pick up some food and water which I knew the Marines had plenty of.

Things were turning out alright which worried me, I didn't want to get too comfy with the One Piece world since I knew I had to get back to my own world. Something was gnawing at the back of my mind that troubled me and I knew that I couldn't stay in Shells Town for too long, I had to look for someone but who? I didn't know.

Currently, I was wearing one of the Marine uniforms, it made it much less troubling getting around. If I was spotted, they would think I was a Marine though I had yet to actually bump into anyone. I sighed, feeling slightly sorry for the poor fools of both the Marines and the citizens of Shells Town.

"You there, stop this instant!" Came a rather high pitched came from behind me as it cracked slightly, it made me freeze nonetheless.

_Shit! I'm in so much trouble!...I think..._

It wasn't the most threatening voice I've heard (nothing can compare to Zoro's at the moment) but I knew one of two things.

One, there was no one at the Marine Fort who was my ally.

Two, there is only one guy with a voice like that which came to mind and I was currently wearing his shoes.

I turned my full attention to him and had to keep myself from laughing at the ridiculous suit he was wearing and his more than unique hairstyle. I nodded as I cleared my throat, hoping my acting skills weren't horrible, "Good afternoon, Helmeppo-san..." I said with a small salute, trying to remember what my choir would do whenever he would talk about his time at the military (course no one really believed him since he was no taller than 5 feet but after those one-handed push-ups...).

He actually looked a lot less ridiculous in person than I thought which was surprising, if Zoro was anything to go by. His hair wasn't so much purposely styled like an olive, it looked more like his hair was so thick and since curved inwards that when he wore it short, it made it...well, olive shaped. He was hearing a _two piece_ suit (I actually snickered too when I thought this) in a sickly neon green color with a pale yellow shirt underneath. His brown shoes were decent enough for a guy, not so much for a girl.

"Where exactly do you think your going?" He asked, staring at me with an over exaggerated questioning look, tapping his foot rapidly and I had to resist the urge to do the same (_Stupid restless leg syndrome..._).

"I'm...going to check on the center hall, sir." I said, trying to keep my voice even and not to flinch when he peered at me closer, I was just making shit up as I went.

"And who gave you those orders?"

_Shoot, someone is actually suppose to give me orders?_

"Ah, no one really, sir...I just finished cleaning like I was suppose to and decided to check some areas."

"The center hall is fine so there is no need for you to go there, head over to the south wing and check the halls there." I nodded, feeling sweat go down my shoulders as I saluted and turned left, "Idiot! I said _south_, not _north_!" I felt myself bristle angrily but kept quiet, muttering an apology and turning right instead. I didn't go far and I hide around the corner until I saw Helmeppo leave.

"What a jerk..." I muttered and hoped I would never have to run into him again.

Within an hour, I found the kitchen and luckily for me, it was busy. Why was that a good thing? Its easier to blend into a crowd and since I was still wearing the Marine uniform, they would think I was just checking up on them. I breathed out heavily, all of this sneaking around and being seen while in disguise was freaking me out but I had to be confindent enough in my plan if I wanted to get back to Zoro, or even just make it out alive. If the captain found out that someone was sneaking around, stealing, and assisting Zoro...

I felt myself pale, not wanting to think about it.

It was easy enough to take the food, even if I knew they saw it. I figured it was common for the Marines to help themselves once in a while. I took mainly fruits, nuts, and vegetables along with just one loaf of bread. Luckily, I didn't eat much to begin with so I knew I could stretch out my rations for a while. I was also glad that it was easy to obtain a canister of water too. There was another thing I wanted to grab and although it went against my principles as a cook, I took one of the chefs knives that rested near one of the sinks, quickly shoving it into my bag but not without grazing my hand a bit. I felt it weird that no one was questioning me why I was taking so much food or why I had a travel pack with me. I doubted any of these people saw much action and my worry only grew.

I never noticed the man around the corner in the neon green suit slick away into the hall as I left to go back to Zoro.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>Amber talks with Zoro

**Ain't she just a trouble maker? :3**

**F.R.F.**

**Maillet**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and NO PAIRINGS

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro. It will sorta follow both the manga and the anime (Zoro has been tied up for about 3 weeks instead of 10 days)

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

Each of us is a book,  
>When born and breath first breathed,<br>Un-scarred and unclear at first,  
>But at the end of its unspoken words,<p>

We're marked by epic tales

** Chapter 3: Stories **

I was almost overjoyed when I saw the limp form of Zoro tied to the cross in the distance (even if it was sunset now) but I chose not to run out to him, instead walking calmly, still dressed in a Marine uniform. I shifted the pack up my shoulders a little more and swallowed nervously as I stopped a few feet behind him. Would he be mad at me that I got him hurt? Or perhaps that I was bothering him? I didn't want to be a problem to him, honestly, he was my utmost favorite character from One Piece for so many reasons (_loyal, strong, brave, selfless_) though some of those reasons I would never admit out loud to anyone (_sexy, soft-hearted, kind_). Feeling my face flush for a moment before I worked up the nerve to actually move closer to him and in front of him.

I flinched a little, seeing a fresh bruise forming on the left side of his jaw from the punch earlier, my guilt making my stomach uneasy, "Zoro? You awake?" I spoke softly, whispering so that no one heard me and that I didn't startle him. He shifted slightly, face scrunching together for a moment before sighing. I couldn't help but to smile brightly. Zoro would always be Zoro.

"Thought I told you to-"

"I wanna help ya out, kay?" I said a little more excitedly then I meant to, he gave me a quizzical look. He seemed too tired to really glare at me or argue at the moment which I took as a blessing, I didn't want to piss him off anymore than I already had. Zoro blinked once then looked me over, obviously curious about the uniform. It would have made such great flirting material if it wasn't for the fact I was trying to make sure I didn't piss him off and I knew he wouldn't like it, "I took a few things that I thought they might not miss."

"You stole one of their uniforms and wandered around the fort unnoticed?" He asked, suspicious and surprised which I gave a cheeky smile to him in answer, "Gotta admit, that's pretty clever."

"Oh hearing such a compliment from you is simply wonderful~" I couldn't help myself, I do have fangirl tendencies.

He tensed, uncomfortable, but quickly relaxed and glared, "Stop messing around, woman, just get out of here..."

I stopped mid-swoon and regarded him for a moment before raising my brow and crossing my arms under my chest, "Right...I didn't just sneak around a Marine base, steal a bunch of their crap, and snuck back here to you just for you to tell me to leave...Nuh-uh, my delectable Marimo, I'm gonna help you whether you like it or not." I stared at him a moment longer, watching him glare at me, "Besides, not like you can do much tied up..."

"Screw you, woman!"

"But you didn't even buy me dinner~"

It was amusing to see him turn red like a cherry tomato, I smiled in satisfaction before dropping the bag on the ground beside me. I knelt down to dig through it, taking a moment to withdraw the chef knife to tuck it into my belt. Zoro watched, curious, but said nothing.

I couldn't treat any of his wounds since they would suspect something and I couldn't clean him up without either. I pulled out my water canister and looked at it before looking to him, I reached out to feel his forehead but he quickly pulled himself away to bash him head slightly on the pole. As he hissed in pain, I glared at him, "What's your problem?"

"I don't need your help..."

"I beg to differ, your injured and dirty...doubt you can do anything about that right now."

"I don't _want_ your help then!"

I rolled my eyes, "Look, I ain't leaving until I've helped you somehow. I don't like leaving debts still owed." I declared before dumping the cold water from the canister straight on top of his head. He hissed, swore slightly, but relaxed. I figured it had been more out of shock than anything else and that he actually enjoyed it. When I had touched his forehead earlier, he felt a little warm. I wasn't sure if it had been from the sun or if he wasn't well, but I figured he might enjoy being cooled off a little, "Better?"

"...Yeah..." Poor guy sounded so tired.

"Alright, can I please take a look at you? I won't do anything, I promise, but I much rather know your not gonna die over night."

"Only the weak die so easily..."

I felt a smile twitch at the corner of my mouth because I knew where he was coming from and why he said that, "I take it as a yes then?" He didn't answer so I started anyways. In my own world, I was a dental assistant but I also took a first aid course in case of an emergency. On top of the fact I remembered a lot of what I learned in biology about the human body, I knew enough to know what to do in order to keep someone stable enough for help to arrive. This included recognizing any problems others tend to miss. I hesitated for a moment, this was going to be very weird for me since it was actually one thing to see him in person and to be all...real, but touching him was another thing. I felt uncomfortable with it.

_Just do it, its not like your going to be inappropriate about it!_

Unfortunately, that was when my mind decided to wander and I giggled stupidly. Zoro looked up to my now flushed face and I stared right back at him, neutral. Inside I was cursing myself while trying to retain as much of my cool that I still had left, "Thought you were wanting to check me out?"

This time, I was the one who flushed red as he gave a shark-like grin because he knew exactly what I was thinking and that I didn't want him to know. He muttered something about perverts and being even as I began my examination.

_Cuts, bruising, nothing's broken though which is good. Kinda feels a bit warm but could be from the fact he works out often though he hasn't in a while, a bit on the thin side considering his age and height._

"Well, doc?" He asked, making me jump a little.

"I'm not a doctor, I'm a dentist but you aren't going to die anytime soon..." I sighed, kneeling down again to look for something.

Zoro watched, curious, "A dentist? Then why were you..." He trailed off before glaring viciously at me, "You pervert!"

"Hey now! I have _some_ medical knowledge besides dentistry, ass! Now shut up and eat this." I withdrew a banana and began to unpeel it, "You can at least have something in your stomach cause seriously, you know how much damage you're doing to yourself when you don't eat?"

"I don't need it. You had your little medical examination, now you can leave."

"Not until you eat something."

"I'm not eating anything!"

I frowned angrily at him (I do _not_ pout, thank you very much!), before trying to shove the banana in his mouth only for him to dodge. I was slightly surprised that he moved his head so quickly this time without hurting it though I should have known since said guy fights with a sword in his freaking mouth. The banana dodging went on for a good solid 5 minutes before I angrily gave up and he smirked in victory, "Fine then, don't eat! But I'm not leaving this spot until you do!"

"What?!"

I stuck out my tongue and parked myself right in front of him, crossing my arms and looking at him defiantly. He didn't seem to happy.

"Ero-tooth..."

Now I was unhappy, "Ero-tooth?"

"Yeah cause your short and white, like a tooth."

I had to admit, it was pretty creative, "Shitty Algae..."

He spent the next half hour calling each other whatever name that came to mind without much heat to our words, it was rather fun, to be honest.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

"About 2 weeks..."

"What?"

It was now night time, the air chilled nicely to cool off those who had been out and about in its morning. I was mesmerized by the fact I could see the stars, so many of them dancing as they twinkled, so clearly in the dark blue skies. The moon was like a capital "D", smiling as brightly as a certain soon-to-be captain. I was sitting to Zoro's left, back leaning against the pole with the dark blue blanket I stole earlier wrapped around my shoulders and pulled close to me. I ended up eating the banana I had been trying to get him to eat, saying I didn't want to waste food.

"You asked me how long I had been tied up, its been two weeks."

_Two weeks? So the timeline is going by the manga version where he was tied up for 3 weeks...so about 1 more week until Luffy gets here..._

"3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food..."

I heard him chuckle a bit, "For ordinary people..." I just rolled my eyes.

"So what, you wanna prove to yourself you're better at things than most people?" Course, I knew the reason why he was refusing to eat but I didn't want to let him know that I knew things I wasn't suppose to know. The story of Kuina was _definitely_ off bounds, telling that would be a one-way ticket to getting myself killed. He was quiet for longer than I thought and I turned to look up at him, frowning. He was looking at him and it looked like he was deciding if he should say anything or not. Did I actually strike a nerve? I didn't think I said anything too mean that would actually affect him, he wasn't the type of guy to get upset over things like that.

"You knew what my name was, right?"

"Huh?" I blinked, confused and thought for a moment. It was true that I knew his name and that he hadn't introduced himself to me...hell, he doesn't even know _my_ name right now. It was easy to lie about how I knew his name if he ever asked, he was famous in East Blue after all. Hell, his name even reached the other 3 Blues too. Pirate Hunter Roronoa Zoro, Demon of the East Blue, "Yeah I know your name, not many pirate hunters with a haramaki when they aren't even old..."

He glared at me but said nothing about it, "Then you would know I'm also a swordsman."

"Master of the 3 Swords Style, Santorryu."

"Do you know much about swordsmanship?" I did the universal hand-sign for "sorta" and he snorted, leaning back on his post, "Alright, what do you know?"

Inside, I was extremely excited that I was actually having a casual conversation (well...nothing like "Hey, hows the weather" casual but it was close enough for me), but I didn't show it. Instead, I was thinking about what to say as I placed my middle and index fingers on my lips in thought, "Hmm, well there is...Bushido...I think it means _The Way of the Warrior_, or something." I waited for Zoro to say something but he didn't say anything so I continued, "The seven virtues are Righteousness, Honor, Loyalty, Respect, Benevolence, Courage, and Sincerity. There is also 3 other associated virtues which are Wisdom, Filial Piety, and Fraternal Respect." I knew where he was getting at, luckily, so I didn't go any further. He seemed to have been thinking along the same lines, smirking.

"Heh, you studying Bushido too or something?"

_I wish..._

"No...its more like gaining knowledge for the sake of knowledge. I've never wield a sword before but I don't think I should try, doubt I would be any good."

"What's the good learning something if you don't put it into practice, its one thing to know _of_ something but a completely different thing to know of it and how to do it."

Honestly, I didn't expect something so...wise from him. I felt like swooning again but I was too tired to actually do it, "I see what you mean...gonna teach me how to use a sword then?"

"I don't think so, I have no need to." I glared at him, about to tell him he was an ass, until I noticed he was looking at the knife at my side, "Where did you learn for to use a knife?"

I scrunched my brows together, confused, "How do you know I even know how to use a knife? Could be for decoration."

Zoro shook his head, muttering something under his breath, "No, you seem like the type that doesn't want to get into trouble. Wearing a knife like that but not knowing how to use it is a death wish, anyone would attack you if they think you knew how to fight. You seem smart enough to know that, not only that but you're wearing it to your left. You're right handed so wearing the knife on that side makes for a much easier and cleaner draw. Most people who don't know how to use a blade usually wear it on the same side as their dominate hand."

"Wow...that's good analyzing...you're not contemplating how to kill me, right?"

He gave a huff of laughter, closing his eyes, "Na, I'm not that much of a demon..."

"Honor, right?" I said, drawing the blanket closer as I smiled softly, feeling a bit drowsy but knew if I fell asleep right now that it would be more troublesome for both Zoro and myself, especially if the Marines caught me.

"So where did you learn how to use a knife?"

"I...well I'm more of a knife thrower. Dad use to do it a lot with this tree we had in the backyard. I asked him one day if he could show me how to throw knives cause I thought it would be so cool to learn. I'm not really good at it but I'm decent enough to fend someone off to escape...I guess. I would fight better with a bat then a knife though, knives are a lot heavier than bats, despite their size. Not only that but bats have a bit of a better balance than knives." I shrugged, "That's just me though...I play a lot of softball with my..." I had been reminiscing so much that I was beginning to think about my family, I hadn't thought of them since waking up in One Piece and I felt hot tears sting my eyes. I scolded myself not to cry in front of Zoro, I was just gaining his interest and I didn't want to seem weak in front of him.

"You have family?" His tone threw me off a little, it sounded so sad and I remembered that he left his home at a very young age.

"Yeah...they're probably worried about me right now..." My voice cracked a little, I hated it. I didn't want to cry but there was too many emotions at the same time.

I felt worried about their safety, I didn't know if any of them ended up in the same predicament as myself.

I felt scared of never being able to see them again. As cool as it was to be in One Piece, I wanted to be home with my family and friends even more.

Most of all, I felt guilty of the things I had said to them before I disappeared.

"You got siblings?" Zoro asked, nudging me a little after I went silent and I quickly wiped away the tears that began to spill over.

"I have two brothers. They're younger then me but the oldest is much taller...actually, I think he's even taller than you." I gave a sad chuckle, "We use to do lots of things together. We would have our own little adventures and it made me feel like I could do anything in the world that I wanted to do. We stuck up for each other, even if we ended up arguing a lot...I...I said some things to them that I didn't mean...before I came here." I drew my legs close and hugged them, resting my cheek on my knees, "I felt so bad, but I refused to say I was sorry...I don't even know where they are. They could have came to this world too, somewhere else. I don't know though and I'm worried sick."

I could feel Zoro's eyes burning on the back of my neck but I chose to ignore them. I didn't want him to see me cry, I didn't want _anyone_ to see me cry. I was suppose to be the responsible one, the stronger one, the helpful one because I was the oldest. I felt like I failed that and now...

"Hey umm..."

"Amber...my name is Amber." I said quietly, standing up and brushing dirt off my close. I wasn't sure what he was going to say but I didn't want to hear, "I'm sorry, I have to go. I can't sleep here or they will catch me. I'll see you tomorrow though..."

Zoro said nothing as I left to find a place to sleep, I knew what he was going to say though and my eyes stung with hot tears again. I wondered if he didn't need to see my face though to know how upset I really was...

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>Amber and Rika force feed Zoro

**Hmm...this fun, I can't wait until she runs into Luffy~**

**F.R.F.**

**Maillet**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and NO PAIRINGS

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro. It will sorta follow both the manga and the anime (Zoro has been tied up for about 3 weeks instead of 10 days)

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><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_Help isn't given to those who want it  
>Its for those who cannot see<br>Cannot hear nor say  
>Its burning need<em>

_In to dissolve its pain_

** Chapter 4: Combined Forces**

"Damn it, Roronoa Zoro! You are SUCH a child!"

"Shut up, I am not!"

I couldn't help but to roll my eyes, "Right and that right there totally was convincing."

It's now been 3 days since I had first arrive in the One Piece World and 3 days I've been trying to get a certain swordsman to eat. The day was harsh, the sun beating down hot rays that almost burned to be in. Not a single cloud for shade nor a breeze to cool which left Zoro grumpier then normal (and even more sweaty). I knew that his clothes were getting uncomfy, heavy with dirt and sweat (and much to my worry, blood) but I doubt he would want to be tied to a pole without his clothes, much less his shirt, for two reasons. The weather changed often, yesterday having been pouring rain and how being a hot sunny day. At least the rain had washed away some of the filth that was on him but he still smelled.

The second reason was...well, because of me.

He didn't like it when I swooned over him (or some of the other marines who had been surprisingly attractive) and would end up calling me "Ero-tooth" to my annoyance.

I was currently standing in front of him with two pears in hand and still wearing the Marine uniform, glaring for all it was worth but with no results. I was beginning to wonder why I even bothered with him in the first place, I figured I was just being hopeful. At least he had accepted the water, even if it was just poured over him. I had asked him before if it was because of the weather but he didn't answer me and pretended to sleep until I pointed out I knew he was awake from the lack of snoring.

Then he told me he didn't snore, I called him a lair.

"Why are you still here even?" He questioned me again, narrowing his eyes in a pissed-off glare that I was growing use to, "You've been here for 3 days now, I'm pretty damn sure you have no debt anymore."

I frowned at him, "Ouch, Zoro. Ya hurt my feelings...besides, I have no where else to go. Don't you remember me telling you I'm not exactly from around here?"

"Right cause you're from another world..." Oh he sounded _so_ convinced...

It had been the 2nd night with him that I explained I was from another world when he had pestered me to go back home. Of course, he didn't believe me but I refused to lie to him since it would bite me in the ass later on if I ever ran into him again. I knew he wouldn't believe, no matter how much I told him.

That, on the other hand, didn't stop me from stomping on his foot as hard as I could for his sarcasm, "I'm being serious, shitty asshole!"

"Ow, hey! Alright, I believe you! Just quit stepping on my feet!"

I huffed, taking a bite from one of the pears (I hid my travel pack nearby), "Anyways, the Marines still don't know that I just took one of their uniforms which is really bad of them considering they should have like a list or something of all their people. I have access to food, I have a bed (_apparently_), and they freaking pay me." I said before taking another bite as I shrugged and waited until I swallowed before continuing, "Pretty damn good if ya ask me." Which was true, I even got a bed in the lower levels which wasn't too far from the courtyard.

"Aren't you worried about being caught?" Zoro asked, I noticed he was staring at the pear in my hand to which I rolled my eyes at. Lord, this man was stubborn, "They're gonna find out sooner or later."

"Yeah and when they do, I'll be long gone. I'm not staying here forever, I have to make sure my brothers aren't here." I licked the juices off my hand before continuing my breakfast.

"Oh so you are leaving? Then what's stopping you from leaving right now."

_You, silly. I know how things will turn out and I wanna be there for them..._

I frowned slightly as I planted a hand on my hip, considering my words because I couldn't tell him that, "When I've had enough..."

Before Zoro could ask anymore questions, a sound came from behind and I jumped slightly, spinning around to see two little brown nobs poking from behind the wall. Zoro gave a curious glance as we watched for a while, "What's going on now?"

"How should I know?" I knew it couldn't have been Luffy or Coby since they were most likely still sailing to Shells Town for Zoro, they weren't suppose to show up for another 3-4 days. I soon got my answer of who when I saw a familiar pigtailed girl pop up and looked around the courtyard. My eyes bugged out as I had not expected that Rika made meal trips to Zoro before Luffy arrived, "Shit!"

"What's the problem?" Zoro asked, looking at me with a bored look.

I said nothing as I quickly went over to the wall as Rika finally spotted me, squealing out a yelp of surprise and ducking behind the wall, "H-Hey, its ok! I'm not gonna hurt ya!"

"Yeah right! You're one of those Marines who are nothing but jerks!" I heard her from behind the wall, it stung a little but I ignored that feeling.

"You wanna feed Zoro, right?"

I was met with silence and guessed Rika decided to just head home. I was disappointed actually, I knew why she was there and figured that she could have helped with Zoro but it seemed my luck was very shitty. I had been ready to turn and leave when I heard the small reply of, "Yes." I turned, seeing young mistrusting eyes judge me and I couldn't help but to squirm, "Why would you help?"

"Why wouldn't I? I'm not a Marine." I grinned up to her but she only frowned further.

"But you're wearing their clothes."

"Yeah, kinda stole them...ummm...don't steal things, its wrong." Lord, I was horrible with introductions. Rika giggled though and I helped her down the wall, "So lets get this stubborn swordsman to eat, huh." I took her over to Zoro who seemed more than surprised to see the little girl, he looked almost scared. I teased him a little and he quickly turned a murderous glare to me which scared Rika but I was unfazed by it, "Oh grow up, will you?"

"Why did you bring her here?"

"Cause I need help to get you to eat."

"You're STILL on that?!"

I grinned, "Damn rights I am!" I knew after he was freed, if I was still there, that he was going to get me back for this in a very unpleasant way but for the moment, I simply could care less. Rika shuffled nervously on her feet, not looking up to either of us as she looked at the package in her hands, "Zoro, you can only last 3 weeks without food and if it weren't for the fact the Marines had been sneaking you water, you would of died in 3 days."

The swordsman scoffed, "I've already told you, I'm stronger than that." He looked down to Rika, his intense stare easing up a little which made me smile, I knew he was a softie for kids which was why I asked Rika to come and help.

"So what'ch ya got there?" I asked, kneeling down to the girl who looked to me and opened the package to reveal some type of pastry with what I suspected was filled with blueberries. It looked like a scone. I smiled, knowing it would be a tasty treat for my favorite swordsman and I ruffled her hair, "Did you make that yourself?"

"No, we bought it from the market but they're really good. I was gonna make him something but I wasn't too sure what I should make so I took one of the scones." I looked over my shoulder to Zoro who was staring at the scone, a hungry look in his eye shined for a moment before quickly disappearing as he scoffed. Course, I knew he wouldn't want to accept the offering, not because he was being too prideful, but because Rika would be in trouble.

But I was just as stubborn.

"I'm sure he would simply _love_ to eat your scone, pumpkin!" Lord, I must have a death wish or something...oh well.

"Damn it, Amber!" I picked up the scone and held it out to Zoro, giving him a straight face, "I'm not eating that!"

Rika struck a hurt face and Zoro actually flinched. It was so small though that one would have missed if it they weren't staring at him but I did, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to..."

"Don't worry, he's just a big grump cause he's stuck out here in the sun." I stepped closer, feeling slightly nervous since I've always made sure to never be too close to him (except for the one time during the first night). He pulled him head away and turned away. I was going to have to take drastic measures. I hated to do this but he left me with no choice. I looked him over until I saw what I was looking for and frowned, "Sorry 'bout this, Zoro."

"What the hell do you-" I quickly shoved the scone in his mouth and before he could spit it out, I reached out and squeezed one of his injuries on his left side. He clenched his teeth which bit off half of the scone (which thankfully wasn't too big to begin with), Rika catching the other half before it hit the ground. I placed a hand over his mouth and pinched his nose, Zoro thrashed his head to get my hands off.

"Just chew and shallow, damn it!" I growled, he stopped and glared at me but after a moment, he swallowed the scone and I stepped back to let him breath. He coughed, most likely having bits of the scone fall into the wrong tube, and I pulled out my water, "Drink." This time he didn't fight me as he guzzled the water, letting cool trails fall from the corners of his mouth and down his chin, "Better?"

"You-" He coughed, sending me a murderous glare, "Wit-"

"Just save your breath and finish the scone." I picked Rika up (who was still holding onto the scone) and brought her close to Zoro. She squirmed a bit in my hands, afraid, "He won't bite you...right Zoro?" I looked back to him, smiling at the fact that he looked like he was pouting, "Finish the rest of the gift sweet little Rika has brought you and I'll make sure she gets out safe, kay?" Of course, even if he didn't eat the rest, I was going to make sure she did anyways.

To my pleasure, he ate the rest of the scone with some more water without much fuss (he even ate the pear, yay!). Rika enjoyed the fact that she was able to help the swordsman who saved her life and we headed over back to where she came, "Thanks again, Amber!"

"AH don't worry about it...it was nothin'..."

"I really wanted to make him something special, I just didn't know what to make though..."

I thought for a moment before grinning brightly, "Well his most famous move is _Ori Giri_..."

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

I walked back to Zoro, snickering to myself as he gave me a rather drowsy glare. With food finally in his stomach, it gave his stomach something to work on instead of itself. I knew that for people who have gone without eating or drinking anything for a long time shouldn't have solid foods but with the fact the One Piece world practically gives science the finger and says, "Screw you, I'm doing this!"...

"What's so funny?" he mumbled but I just shrugged.

"Hey, you there."

I blinked, looking behind Zoro to the three Marines striding up to us with such serious looks on their faces that I made me freeze and stiffen. Zoro watched silently, tense, but glared harshly at the Marines. I saluted them but they didn't salute back, I knew right then I was in trouble, "Good morning, sirs." I said in a shaky voice.

"You are to come with us." The middle one with the scars all over his face said and I felt myself back away slightly.

"What do you idiots want now?" I looked over to Zoro who had his eyes closed like he was asleep and slumped against the pole. The scared Marine said nothing but stared at him for a moment, I looked between the two men and worry grew strong in my chest. It was then Scar-Head (as I quickly decided to dub him) calmly walked over to the front of Zoro and the other two stood to either side of me. The swordsman looked up to glare at him, defiant and threatening which made Scar-Head flinched. With the way his face contorted into anger, I suspected Scar-Head hadn't meant to flinch and he harshly struck a blow to Zoro stomach.

Zoro let out a breathless gasp, shocked by the blow, as fresh blood dripped from his mouth.

And I panicked, "Zoro!" Instincts told me to help him and I made to go to his side but the two other Marines, the ones I had forgotten, grabbed hold of my arms. Their grips were like steel traps, strong and painful. I felt the cold wave of fear wash over me and settle in the pit of my stomach as I realized that they knew I was an impostor, my mouth felt suddenly very dry, "Get your fucking hands off me, shit heads!" I snarled angrily as I thrashed in their grip. Scar-Head left Zoro coughing as he turned to me and moved to stand in front of me.

"Do you want to make this any harder?" The threat was clear in his voice and I stopped, as much as I wanted to keep the fuss going. He smirked, "Good, follow me."

I looked back to Zoro who looked like he wanted to kill Scar-Head though if it was because he punched him or if it was because of me, I wasn't sure. As they dragged me away, I looked over my shoulder to the swordsman and mouthed two simple words to him before I disappeared from his view.

_I'm sorry..._

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>The next 3 days with Zoro

**Hmm, that was fun...kinda wonder randomly how Luffy and Brook's first encounter would have been like if Brook was a woman...then I begin to laugh my ass off at the thought of fem-Brook's interaction with Sanji and Zoro.**

**F.R.F.**

**Maillet**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and NO PAIRINGS

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro. Amber's knowledge of the One Piece world though will be...hazy XD

Also to **Pizzafan123**, thank you for the review! It made me smile :D

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_This is it,  
>A line which divides<br>Those who have strength  
>From those who have none<em>

_But are wise enough to know their place_

** Chapter 5: Final Countdown**

I wasn't in as much shit as I originally thought which I didn't know to consider a good thing or a bad thing.

On one hand, they didn't know I was the person who fell from the skies which meant they weren't going to ask me where I was from since if Zoro, the man who saw me fall from the sky, didn't believe me...well, they wouldn't either.

On the other hand, they knew I had been helping Zoro which meant I was going to be punished for that. Was I worried I was going to be killed though? I wasn't since the person they were taking me to see wasn't Captain Axe-Hand Morgan but his son, Helmeppo. When they told me that, I felt my jaw drop and silently thanked the Olive-head's pride. I knew that I had a better chance of living if Olive-head punished me than if his dad did.

I then rethought of my last train of thoughts and shivered, I really needed a mental filter.

"Helmeppo-san." Scar-Head said as he saluted him and I looked up to see we were in the doorway of his bedroom. He was sitting at his dresser but doing what, I wasn't interested to find out.

"Ah perfect, come in so we can get started." He clapped his hands together as he straightened and the Marines pulled me in, "Make her kneel."

Suddenly my thoughts from earlier popped up and I paled, for a brief moment, I thought that I had been right to assume that he was doing to do something nasty. They kicked the back of my knees and I dropped to the ground as I swore, "Jerks, that's not how you treat a lady!" I hissed, looking behind myself to the two who were still holding onto my arms. Scar-Head thankfully left though so I felt slightly better about my situation.

_Slightly_ being the key word.

"I should have known you were trouble from the moment I saw you in the halls, every Marine knows their place around here enough to not get lost." Helmeppo said, walking to the window over looking the courtyard and no doubt looking at Zoro, "How anyone gets that easily lost is beyond me."

_Then you don't really know Zoro now, do you?_

"Gotta admit though, I was pretty good." I said, wiggling a bit to make their grips loosen but only managed to make them tighten their hands around my wrist, those were gonna bruise. I sighed, I knew I had to figure a way out of this situation, "Alright, you caught me. Why not take me to your dad? Why you?"

"My father is a busy man, he doesn't need to be bothered by petty criminals." He chuckled to himself like he told a private joke, I glared, "Besides, I think I know a fitting punishment for you and Zoro."

Now I was worried, wasn't Zoro being punished enough? I scrunched my brows together as I narrowed my eyes, "What are you planning?"

"On the last day of our agreement, I'm going to execute Zoro to send a message to the people of Shells Town." He then turned to me with a smirk on his face, "Might as well do the same to you."

I knew he was planning on killing Zoro but he had been planning on doing that all this time? I took back what I thought of him earlier, he was just as much a monster as his father, "You shit head! When I get my hands on you-" I was struck in the back of the head hard and saw stars. One of the Marines who had been holding me hit me for struggling again.

"You'll be dead by then. In the meantime, since you enjoy Roronoa's company so much, you'll be tied to the post and be given no food or water as well." He walked closer to me and forced me to look up at him, "And if you tell him, you'll die a lot sooner than you think."

I spat in his face and he quickly recoiled from me, "I could give two shits if you do, I'll tell him you're going back on your word and he'll see no more reason to honor his side of the fucking deal!"

"So you don't care if you die? Fine then, I'll kill HIM if you say anything!" Helmeppo claimed as he wiped spit off his face, "Tie her up with Roronoa!"

I felt a little ashamed that I got Zoro into even more trouble. If Olive-head even suspected I said anything to him, he was going to...

_No! Its going to be ok cause Luffy is going to show up in 4 days...but...will he even..._

I hung my head feeling depressed and anxious, how things were going to turn out now, I didn't know but I prayed that I hadn't just made things worse than it already was.

They roughly tied me to the cross, right behind Zoro though seeings how I was a good 4 inches shorter than him, they merely tied my arms to my sides instead to the horizontal pole. No one said anything until the Marines left and I sighed, "How are you holding up?" I asked Zoro, wondering faintly if he was actually asleep. I felt him shift a little, as if trying to see behind himself but soon stopped.

"I'm fine, you should know that." He sounded a little short, almost annoyed and I felt my mood plummet. I've pissed off the one person I felt I could trust...I blew it.

"Oh..."

"You should have listened to me."

"You're right..."

"I told you to leave."

"I know..."

"Now you're stuck here with me."

"Yeah..." My voice cracked at the last one and I flinched, I felt like crying because I had messed up so bad. I should have left like he told me to but instead I had been prideful and stubborn into staying and making him eat, "I'm sorry, Zoro. I messed up big time..." I swallowed pass the uncomfy lump in my throat as my eyes watered. Zoro sighed, long and forced, I thought I was annoying him even more with what I was saying so I decided to keep quiet but the bitter silence hung in the air and I felt like it was crushing me. It felt like the last night I had on New Years Eve before I fell from the sky.

_Will I get to see my brothers and tell them I'm sorry?_

I was beginning to doubt it.

"...Amber?" I still didn't answer but I felt hopeful, maybe he wasn't as mad at me as I thought, "Remember when you were telling me some of the virtues for Bushido?" I perked a little, interested in what he had to say. I nodded my head only to remember that I was on the other side of him.

"Yeah...what about it?"

The swordsman was silent for a moment and I felt him fidget a little, my curiosity growing. I knew he wasn't a touchie-feelie guy so trying to make me feel better must be very awkward for him right now, "You would make a good swordsman..."

I snorted, not believing him but I felt tears fall down my cheeks. I was happy to hear he thought so, "Like I told you before, I wouldn't make a very good one. I've got none of the virtues to even be considered as such..."

He shuffled again and I felt a light smack on my shoulder, I gave a soft glare at the offending limb, "That's not true. You have benevolence, you helped me out of your own free will and not because I wanted you to...and trust me, I _really_ didn't want you to. You've got courage, not everyone would have the guts to sneak around a Marine fort like you did." He paused, seeming to think of what to say next, "Sincerity...as much as its hard to believe that you are from another world, I doubt you would have made up that excuse when I asked you where you were from. Loyalty, you stuck by my side, even though you knew it was dangerous..." he paused again which made me chuckle.

"That's a little over half...but I get the idea."

"Good cause I was running out of stuff to say."

I laughed again, "You really aren't one for pats on the back, are you?" He didn't answer but he didn't need to, I felt much better than I did before. I looked up to the skies, clear blue and windless but I felt the hope return within me. If I could make it through this, I would be one step closer into figuring out this whole mystery. I had to believe that I could do it and give it all that I could.

The rest of the day was spent in silence but instead of bitterness hanging in the air like the night before my arrival, it was full of wondrous hope and determination.

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_Day 1..._

"Eeeeeehh, sexy lady! Op-op-op, Oppa Gangnam Sty- Ow! What gives?!" I yelled at my pole-mate who kicked the back of my leg.

"Will you STOP singing that!" I rolled my eyes and merely hummed the tune in my head.

It was a cloudy day which meant most likely it was going to rain tomorrow. It had been (technically) 2 days that I've been tied to the pole with Zoro...or 1.5 days if you wanted to be picky about it. All the high and low emotions from yesterday wore off and I found myself utterly bored. My imagination only could take me so far (and with a certain green-haired swordsman right next to me to hear every snort and giggle, it was on an even shorter leash), so about 4 hours into the day, I decided it was a good time to sing.

And I don't normally sing in front of people, that was how bored I was.

The hunger wasn't so bad at least. I didn't eat much to begin with so the first day or two I knew I could tough it out...it was the 3rd and 4th day that was going to be a problem. As I suspected too, there was a Marine or two that would go and give Zoro some water. They seemed surprised to see me there but didn't ask anything, they only gave me some water and told me not to tell anyone.

"I'm bored as hell over here, I have to do something to pass the time or I'll go crazy."

"Aren't you pass that point already?" This time, I shook the pole, "Cut that out!"

"Well stop being a jerk! Either you let me sing or I'll giggle at shit you wouldn't want to know I was thinking!" And just to prove my point, I fired up my imagination and let it have free-range within my mind. I thought back to the One Piece Z Movie when Luffy, Sanji, Zoro, and Brook run into Aokiji at the spa...they were wearing just towels...very short towels. Oh and it was steamy too...

I giggled stupidly again and Zoro shook the pole, "Oi! What is it this time?"

"Shush, I'm picturing you in a short towel!"

The end result was better than I expected, Zoro actually making a choking sound and I could just imagine what his face looked like, "Damn it, Ero-tooth! Fine, I won't stop you from singing just DON'T get perverted on me again!"

I grinned in triumph, even though he couldn't see me, before thinking of another song to sing. Since I didn't want to irriate him too much, I decided on a song that was much more calming and a little more deep. It was one of my favorite ones, even if it didn't make too much sense to me. _Lullaby_ by Sia...

_Send a wish upon a star_  
><em>Do the work and you'll go far<em>  
><em>Send a wish upon a star<em>  
><em>Make a map and there you are<em>

_Send a hope upon a wave_  
><em>A dying wish before the grave<em>  
><em>Send a hope upon a wave<em>  
><em>For all the souls you failed to save<em>

_And you stood tall_  
><em>Now you will fall<em>  
><em>Don't break the spell<em>  
><em>Of a life spent trying to do well<em>  
><em>And you stood tall<em>  
><em>Now you will fall<em>  
><em>Don't break the spell<em>  
><em>Of a life spent trying to do well<em>

"Hey, that's a good one..." Zoro mumbled quietly as he listened and I felt as though he felt some kind of connection with it.

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_Day 2..._

I had been right, it rained. Its started sometime during the night and came very quickly which left me shocked awake by the freezing rain. It had been very refreshing at the beginning but now I couldn't help but to shiver violently. Zoro didn't seemed as bothered by it, having spent most of his life roughing it, though I could still feel him shiver gently too. It didn't help that it was also windy which left me feeling numb in a matter of minutes. My teeth chattered hard against each other.

Zoro had asked me if I was ok and I told him I wasn't, that I was too cold to even think straight. He suggested that I sing again to keep my mind off the cold but every time I tried, it only reminded me of how cold I really was. I had to think straight for the lyrics to some to mind since if I wasn't thinking about what I was saying, I would end up biting my tongue. After the 7th time of biting my tongue, I tasted my coppery blood and called it quits.

I suggested that we both play a game.

"How the hell can we play a game if we can't move, much less even see each other?"

I thought for a moment and shrugged, "W-We could p-p-play a rhym-ming game..." He didn't say anything so I explained a bit more. The object of the same was to take turns rhyming until there were none left and the last person to say the rhyming word would win. When I told him that eye rhymes wouldn't count but ear rhymes would, I had no clue what I said so I explained to him what they were.

We played for hours, often getting creative or arguing if the other had said a real word or not. I would laugh when he would say something that I would ever expect him to say or giggle when he would say something that sounded wrong. He would make fun of me for mispronouncing words but all and all, we had fun and what was more, it kept our minds off the miserable weather.

It was around the evening, when the sun began to set, when the rain had finally stopped and a rainbow arched across the flaming skies.

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_Day 3..._

"Hey Zoro?"

"What?" Shoot, he must have been sleeping again. Good thing he had grown use to me.

"Can I...ask you a question?"

I heard him short and I didn't see what was so funny with what I said, "You just did..."

"O-Oi! Don't get smart with me!" I growled out but with not much heat to it as he laughed a little. I was dirty, tired, and hungry. My stomached growled loudly which made me feel a bit queasy though I was thankful I wasn't doing anything except for standing since I would most likely have thrown up, "Its just...its kinda a personal question."

There was a moment of silence before he answered, "What's the question?"

I felt nervous for asking this and I already knew what his answer might be since I've read up on it in my world but since I was with the guy who was the true source, I wanted to know for sure, "When did you start using three swords?"

I twisted my head around to look at him and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him staring at me with a thoughtful gaze. Zoro was the kind of guy to think out his answers if he wanted to leave as much mystery as possible if he didn't want people to know his true answer. There are other times though where he is very straight forward and unafraid of his answer since either he wouldn't care if it affected ones view of him or if there was nothing he wanted to hide. I waited patiently for his answer. Zoro sighed and turned his gaze back in front of him, "I started out using just two swords and I was fairly good with Nitoryuu (Two Sword Style), enough to beat the adults as a kid so I could take their dojo signs when I won...there was one place I wasn't able to beat but I didn't fight the dojo master like I wanted to."

I felt like I was prying but I couldn't resist, "Who did you fight then?"

Another uncomfy pause, "It was one of the students who was the top swordsman there. I made a deal that if I won, I would take their sign but if I lost, I would train under his guidance..."

"You lost, didn't you?" I mumbled but felt a sharp kick to the back of my leg, "OW! Stop kicking me!"

"Do you wanna listen or not?" When I didn't answer back, he continued, "Yeah I lost but there was no shame in losing. I challenged them nearly every signal day as I trained and when I did lose, it only strengthened my resolve to get stronger so that one day I could beat them! I wanted to be the strongest swordsman in the world and nothing would stop me from completing my dream. They shared the same dream as me though, my rival and I. It helped us grow stronger with each match we did." There was a fire in his tone that made me smile, a burning passion that set ablaze ones dreams and hopes. I could practically feel it radiating off of him and it warmed me up.

But then the air felt thick with a heavy sadness and I knew what was to come, "Then what happened?" I asked softly.

"...I wasn't able to defeat them cause...they left, they're gone and dead...they weren't able to complete their dream because...I asked to carry their sword with me so that when I completed our dream, it would be like they were there with me. After that, I began to develop Santoryuu (Three Sword Style)..." He trailed off near the end and I figured I had lost him to his memories. I felt bad for bring up those painful memories and while others might have thought differently of his answers, I knew exactly what he was saying. Zoro partly blamed himself for Kuina's death and still to his day, it ate him up inside. I doubt Kuina would blame Zoro though, but he wouldn't believe me. I stretched my neck over to his left hand as much as a could and nudged it with my head. I felt his fingers twitch before relaxing on the top of my head.

"A person only truly dies when they are forgotten...and you haven't forgotten, Zoro..."

I let him hold my head as the bitter memories plagued him mind and my guilt eat at me for hurting him again.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>The adventure begins, Luffy finally arrives!

**I kinda don't get the "Visitor" and "Views" things for the stats...oh well**

**F.R.F.**

**Maillet**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and NO PAIRINGS

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro. Hopefully Amber makes it through the rest of the day without kicking some ass...unlikely.

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_It's here the scent lingers,  
><em>_It's there the sounds buzz,  
><em>_For moments when the sights too far,  
><em>_But the fun feelings are born_

_You can almost taste the grand adventure!_

** Chapter 6: The Boy with the Straw Hat**

"What are they doing up there?" I questioned, looking up to the top of the Marine fort as shouts rang loud from above.

"I'm too tired to care, can't you sleep through the day instead of asking me questions?"

I scoffed, "Unlike you, I can't sleep through freaking storms, much less the day time."

The weather was nice for once, it wasn't too hot and not too cold. The skies were bright blue and happy with fluffy white clouds floating along, a gentle breeze flowed over to carry the salty scent of the oceans. The birds flew over head and if it wasn't for the fact that I had been tied to a pole for about 3 or 4 days (I lost count after the 1st day), I would be fully taking advantage of the day ahead. The other day, when he had told me about Kuina's death (even if he was vague about it), it had brought up some bad memories so he ended up having nightmares when he fell sleep. Zoro decided that he was going to try and get as much sleep as he could today since the Marines were busy (so they weren't going to bother us) and the weather was nice.

Unfortunately, this left me extremely bored since I had to keep still and quiet as he was a light sleeper.

Up at the top of the Marine fort, there was movement and commands of "Don't you dare drop that". Maybe they were making repairs to the place finally? When I had been disgusted as a Marine and wandered all over the place (I had to keep myself occupied when he needed his rest), I saw that it could have used with some repairs. For a man who is to uptight about his status and the loyalty of his fleet, Captain Axe-Hand sure as hell did a lousy job at...his job. I sighed, wondering how on earth a guy like that was promoted to Lieutenant in the first place.

"It looks pretty ugly up close..." I perked up to the voices coming closer to the wall and felt Zoro stiffen but sag after, the guy really wanted his sleep.

The swordsman groaned, "What is it this time?"

"Don't know." I lied.

"Go ahead, Coby." That must of been Luffy, his voice a little squeaking and I giggled to myself. Zoro gave me a light kick to the back of my leg and told me to shush. Even if I knew who these people were, Zoro didn't and he didn't want them to know I was there. It had happened a few times that when someone would pop their head over the wall (it was rare to happen, but still), they would either gossip or even make fun of Zoro. Normally, he would ignore them until they went away but when they would spot me, they would do the same as well and that would be when the swordsman decided to send them running with a death glare.

I would end up teasing or swooning over him afterwards and he would kick me, calling me his unique little nickname.

I jumped out of my muse when I heard the shouts of, "Ah! Luffy-san!". I cursed myself at being tied behind Zoro and out of view from the wall since it left me unable to see what was going on.

"I wonder where he is?" It was silent for a moment before the sounds of something landing on the ground came.

"You can't find him that easily, he's probably being kept in a secret room or something." I raised my brow at Coby's words.

"Geez, Zoro. You sure have the reputation..." I mumbled quietly as to not be heard by anyone else.

"It's their own problem if they chose to think of my that way..."

"...Well...I don't think you're that much of a monster..."

He said nothing as Luffy and Coby popped up from the wall right in front of him before Coby flipped shit about Zoro being scary, I figured he was doing his death-glare at them. I listened intently to the conversation.

"So he's Zoro, huh? Those ropes look pretty easy to break..." Luffy sounded unimpressed and I would have snorted my amusement at Luffy practically calling Zoro a wimp.

"S-Stop joking! If you free him, he could make a mess of the town and even kill you!" I could swear the Marines would be able to hear him from the top of the building...wait, where were the guards? I knew that there should of been at least one person to keep an eye on us and should have been in the courtyard by now. Then again, if my entrance was anything to be an example of, they gave two shits if someone was there.

I felt myself a little annoyed with what Coby had said, even though I knew it was coming. He assumed right off the bat the worse of Zoro when he didn't know anything about the guy, about what he has even went through or what he really has done. It was why I tended not to believe in rumors in the first place since a lot of them were made by speculated gossip and horrible people. I felt like saying something but knew Zoro would be mad at me if I did, I didn't want that either.

I was jumped out of my muse when I heard a familiar thump of wood against stone and cursed, realizing that I had zoned out and missed a good portion of the conversations. I knew it had to be Rika with the rice-balls for Zoro, this lead me to remember what was to come and I had to chant a motto of "she's gonna be alright, Luffy will catch her" to keep myself silent. I heard her little footsteps come closer as Coby shouted at her that it was dangerous.

I couldn't help but to agree but not for the same reasons as him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I could have told Zoro myself but I wanted to hear his reaction to the present Rika was going to give him. Course I knew he would refuse...I was still going to kick him for refusing the gift Rika worked hard to make him.

"Luffy-san, go stop her! She could be killed!"

"Go do it yourself." I chuckled at Luffy-Logic.

"You wanna die or something? Get lost." I kicked him for that.

"Zoro, don't be a jerk."

"Damn it, Amber! You're suppose to be quiet!"

"A-Amber?" Rika squeaked out before hurrying around the pole to me, "Amber, what happened!?" It wasn't like I had blood and dirt on me like Zoro, she had been more shocked to see I was tied to a pole.

"Hey Coby, who are they talking to?"

"I-I don't know..."

I merely shrugged, making it a no-big-deal kind of attitude, "Remember what I told you about stealing?" Rika nodded but looked like she was going to cry, "Ah, pumpkin. Don't do the waterworks cause I'm gonna be fine...what'ch ya got there, huh?" She hesitated for a moment before uncovering two, perfectly made rice-balls, "Those look wonderful, Rika-chan! You should go show them to Zoro-kun."

"Don't call me that..."

"You're blushing again, aren't you?"

He said nothing but was no doubt glaring again if Coby's squeak of fright was anything to go by but Luffy was laughing his ass off, I was off to a good start. Rika shuffled around to the front of Zoro again and presented him the rice-balls, "Umm, brother. I made some rice-balls for you! You haven't eaten in a long time, right? It's the first time I made rice-balls..."

"I'm not hungry..."

"And I call bullshit on that."

"No one asked you, Amber."

"This is why we don't go to the nice places to eat."

"What the heck does that mean!?" Zoro growled out, giving me a good kick again before turning his attention back to Rika, "I don't want it, leave me! I'll kill you if you don't go!" I didn't even have to look to see that Rika was about to cry again.

"You don't have to be a jerk, Zoro. Look, pumpkin, its nice and all that you worked so hard to make this grumpy moss-head something but you really have to-"

"Roronoa Zoro, don't pick on little kids or I'll have to report to my father about it." Ah, this day just keeps getting better...

Helmeppo came strolling towards the cross we were tied to with two other Marines following not too far behind. I turned to glare at him and ignored Coby's relief that a "good Marine has come to save the little girl", I would have to punch him for that later.

"Tch, if it isn't the lieutenant's bastard son..."

"Bastard? Don't get cocky, my dad is a lieutenant Marine!"

I snorted, "Doesn't make you any less than a bastard, Olive-Head." I said with a smirk and Helmeppo turned his glare to me.

"I don't remember asking you anything, little thief."

"Whatever, shitty Olive-bastard...", He strolled over to Rika who had been slightly stunned and scared that the Marines had caught her, I felt my worry grow, "Hey, stay away from the kid!"

"Well hello, little girl," He ignored me, that prick, "These rice-balls look pretty tasty." He snatched one up before Rika could do anything which left her only to shout at the bastard as he ate the rice-ball she worked so hard to make. Helmeppo's face twisted into disgust before spitting out the rice-ball, "Horrible, you put too much sugar in it! You're suppose to use salt in these things!"

"Well maybe she thought they would taste better sweet!" I defended Rika before the girl could say anything but the bastard only smacked them out of her hands and began to stomp on them, "HEY! Stop that!" Rika sat on the ground, wanting to reach out to stop Helmeppo from destroying the rice-balls but would have gotten her fingers crushed if she did, tears rolled down her cheeks and I felt my temper flare, "I'm gonna kick your ass!"

He ignored me again as he dragged a hand through his hair, "Awe, don't cry. It's no wonder why I hate little brats so much." He walked over to the sign next to the pole and pointed at it, "It's your own fault, you know? Didn't you see what was written here? Anyone who helps a prisoner will be charged with the same crime, Marine Lieutenant Morgan." He then walked over to a weeping Rika and I snarled at him to leave her alone but Zoro told me to be quiet or I'd end up making things worse, I knew he was right so I kept my mouth shut and my eyes glaring at Olive-Head, "You know how scary my dad can be, right? You would've gotten the death penalty if you're a grown-up." He felt it at that and turned to one of the men standing behind him, "Oi, throw this brat out!"

"Just walk her out, you don't have to throw her!" I shouted, unable to hold my tongue.

"Amber, shut up!"

After threatening to tell his dad, the Marine begrudgingly picked Rika up and threw her away. I twisted around to see if Luffy had caught Rika but I couldn't see a thing, Helmeppo turned his attention to us, "I didn't think you had this kind of endurance! I'm gonna keep you alive for one whole month."

I flinched, knowing he was going to go back on his word but there was nothing I could tell Zoro without Helmeppo over hearing me or he would kill him. Luckily Zoro didn't notice or he would have questioned me. As much as I would like to think that Zoro was incredibly strong, even I knew that in his current state, there would have been no way he could have fended off all the Marines to escape. He was still human after all.

"You better keep your promise..."

Olive-Head laughed, he waved it away like it didn't matter as he turned around and began to walk away, "Oh I'll keep my promise. If you can live like this for one whole month, I'll keep my word and release you!" I was more than relieved when he finally disappeared from view.

"If I wasn't tied up at the moment..." I mumbled heatedly and half expected Zoro to give me shit for not keeping quiet but instead it was deathly quiet and I was slightly worried, "Zoro?"

"You still haven't left yet? Leave now or else he'll go tell his dad about it."

"Oh yeah?" I froze slightly, never realizing that Luffy had made his way over to us and unheard, "I'm looking for someone to join my pirate fleet."

Zoro snorted, amused but I couldn't help but to grin. I was witnessing a historical event, "Pirate? So you gave up on life and became a criminal." It wasn't a question but a statement.

"Its my dream, there's nothing wrong with being a pirate!"

"Hm?" Oh yes, Zoro was _very_ amused right now, "Don't tell me you're gonna set me free and force me to join you."

"I haven't made up my mind yet since everyone thinks you're a bad guy."

This time, I spoke up, "But he isn't, he's really a- OW! Damn it, Zoro! I told you to stop kicking me!"

"And I told you to shut up but you don't listen."

"That doesn't mean you can kick a lady!" I growled out, already feeling a bruise forming but then I was suddenly greeted by the sight of the legend himself, Monkey D. Luffy.

The kid was...scrawnier than I had imagined. His limbs were lanky and his black hair poked messily out of the worn out straw hat. He was wearing his red vest with the gold-colored buttons along with blue shorts and plain sandals. His large brown eyes regarded me curiously before tilting his head which I found completely adorable, "Who are you?" He asked, crossing his arms and puffing out his cheeks a bit. I grinned brightly.

"The name is Amber Tae! Nice ta meet ya...ummm..." I hated to play stupid but I didn't need them to know I knew I whole lot more than I should, "Well anyways, I don't think Zoro is going to want to join your crew."

"Why's that, huh?"

"Because him and I have dreams that need to get fulfilled! All we gotta do is tough this out until the end of this month and we will be one step closer to our goals!"

Luffy laughed and I deflated a bit since I didn't see what I said was so funny, "I wouldn't last a week!"

"That's why we're difference. Go find someone else to join." Zoro spoke up and Luffy shrugged, about to leave. I was worried for a moment that Zoro wasn't going to stop Luffy so that he could eat Rika's rice-ball and was about to call out until I was beaten to the punch, "Hey, hold on!"

"Huh?" Luffy turned around and caught Zoro looking at the ruined rice-ball on the ground.

"That...can you pick it up for me?"

"You wanna eat this?" Luffy questioned, picking up the dirty rice-ball. Bits of rice and dirt fell from it, small clumps of dirt were stuck to it but I still never felt so proud about Rika's rice-ball...even if it was grossly sweet, "But the rice-ball is all muddy."

"You can't be picky about your food when you're hungry." I said, knowing he was thinking along the same lines.

"Shut up. Just give it to me, let me eat all of it!" Luffy shrugged before tossing it into Zoro's waiting mouth. I could hear him chewing it and I almost felt sorry for the guy, it took him a moment before he was able to swallow it and he coughed harshly.

"Do you wanna kill yourself?"

"I ask myself that everyday, kid..."

"Tell that little girl-" Zoro began but coughed again. If my hands had been free then I would have been patting him on his back. Luffy questioned what he was about to say and I broke out into a huge grin at his next words, "The rice-balls taste very good, thank you very much..."

Luffy seemed more than happy to give sweet little Rika the message and left soon afterwards. I didn't want to ruin the moment by saying anything that would piss him off but after a few more coughs, I did feel the need to know if he was alright, "Hey Zoro, you ok back there?"

"I'm fine, just tired..."

"Well...get some rest, you deserve it..."

He didn't need to be told twice as I was only met with loud snores, I chuckled slightly and turned my attention back to what the Marines were doing on the rooftop.

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It was in the early afternoon that Luffy showed up again, greeting Zoro (or maybe even me) with a happy, "Yo!"

"Hey, kid!" I greeted back, happy to see him again.

"It's you again? I told you, I don't wanna be a pirate!"

I chuckled, this was going to be good.

"I'm Luffy! If I loosen up the ropes, then you're gonna join me, ok?"

"I've told you clearly! I have things that I need to do, besides I'm not going to be a bad guy like a pirate."

"That's the difference? Everyone already thinks you are a bad guy." Luffy had a point, a very good and valid point. Zoro was worried about becoming a bad guy but for what reason? Everyone already was scared of him because of his short-temper and his deadly moves, it would have made no difference if he were to be considered a good guy or a bad guy. Then again, I figured this mostly had to do with Kuina as I doubt she would be very impressed if Zoro became a pirate.

As much as Zoro tried to get across he really didn't want to be a pirate though (_I won't become a pirate!_), Luffy utterly ignored him (_I don't care! You're going to join me!_).

"I think your side of the conversation would work out better if you had your katanas with you, Zoro..." I sighed, leaning my head against the pole and closing my eyes. Luffy seemed to perk up at those words and grinned.

"Where the katana?" I blinked, did he not hear me pluralize it?

"That bastard took it. It's something I treasure most...other than my life!"

"Ok! I'm gonna go where that bastard kid is but if you want me to return it to you, you'll have to join me!"

I laughed so hard as Zoro freaked, no doubt shocked that a kid was blackmailing him. Luffy laughed too and was about to turn and leave when I stopped him, "Hey, Luffy! Ya got a sec?" The boy turned and blinked at me as I grinned at him, "I might know where Zoro's swords are. You see, I'm here cause I was caught sneaking around and helping him out. I've learned all the halls in that place so if you want to get him to join your crew quicker, care to cut me free and let me tag along?"

"Cut you free, with what?" He asked but utterly interested.

"Behind those crates is a light blue bag, there should be a knife in there. Grab that and cut my ropes."

"Amber, what the hell are you doing?" Zoro hissed as Luffy ran to get the knife.

"Saving your ass!" Before he had a chance to reply back, Luffy came back with the blue bag and the knife. He cut me free but left Zoro still tied to the pole, the kid was smarter than I thought. If he cut Zoro free now without his swords than he would have just left to get his swords himself. I rubbed my wrist, red and scraped but ok for now, "Cool now let's go before someone sees I'm gone." I went in front of Zoro who was glaring at me, I patted the top of his head, "I'll be right back!"

With that, Luffy and I left as Zoro shouted at us to wait.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>Luffy and Amber go to get Zoro's swords!

**I like Zoro and Amber's little arguments 3**

**F.R.F.**

**Maillet**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and NO PAIRINGS

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro. Hopefully Amber makes it through the rest of the day without kicking some ass...unlikely.

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_It's all about to end,  
><em>_This is our last chance,  
><em>_Our last hope and will,  
><em>_We'll shatter the earth we walk upon_

_And divide it amongst our people!_

** Chapter 7: Last Chance **

"It's strange the Marines aren't around. Are they having a meeting?" Luffy asked as he looked around the seemingly barren fort grounds. I looked up again to the top of the roof and saw movement, I could only guess that it was really the statue they were finally putting up.

"No, they're all up there. Morgan has been building a statue for quite some time now and I guess its finally complete. He's gonna put it up for the whole world to see." I said, adjusting the chef knife to my belt, "Luffy, we still need to get Helmeppo in order to get Zoro's swords. Almost every door in this fort has a lock on it and his door is one of them. He had been foolish enough to leave it unlocked the first time but I don't think he's that stupid to leave it unlocked again."

This was it, I was going to help save Zoro from the Marines. I wasn't going to have him die here because some shitty bastard wanted to use him as an example, "Do you think he's up there too?"

"Definitely."

That was the only answer he needed as he wound up his pitch and shot an arm up the building to grab onto the ledge, "Gomu Gomu no Rocket!" I latched onto him quickly and shot up with him. I felt as if my stomach flew to my mouth and I had to serious repress the urge to vomit, it was fun as hell though. We soon realized that he over shot his landing and we were sent flying high above the roof top.

"Damn it, Luffy!" I had a feeling I would be saying that a lot...

"Oh no, I'm going too fast!"

"Then slow us down, idiot!"

I heard gasps and shouts though I had my eyes tightly shut, I could only imagine what Zoro was seeing from his point of view from down below and was probably freaking out. Luffy quickly grabbed hold of the ropes that were pulling the huge statue up which stopped us from flying any further before pulling hard so that we moved towards the roof top. Unfortunately, when he had done so, he pulled the rope out of some of their grasps and before anyone could say anything, the statue came crashing down and shattered into ruble. As we landed (I wanted to practically kiss the ground), I looked to everyone's faces which held a very good "Oh shit!" look. I sighed, taking this moment of distraction to silently walk near Helmeppo.

Then Luffy raised a hand, "S-Sorry..." he stuttered, obviously embarrassed.

"Capture them! I'm going to kill them!"

_Them?_

Well shit, that couldn't be any good. We had to make our escape quickly before anyone got killed, "Got ya!" I exclaimed, grabbing hold of Helmeppo before he could say anything, "Luffy! I got him so let's get out of here!"

Of course, Olive-head started to freak out as the two of us dragged his sorry ass out of there. Really, I felt as if we were doing him a huge favor.

We ran through the hallways, Luffy following close behind me as I lead the way. I felt my lungs burning since I was worn out from not having anything to eat for a few days but I had resolve, I had to help Zoro so that maybe, he could help me figure out the mess I was in. It was probably much to ask of him but I had no one else who would side with me, no one else there for me. I suddenly felt so down and hollow, it left a cold feeling in my chest, "Th-This way, turn right!" I said, taking a sudden turn down a hallway and thankfully, not skidding on the floor. The Marines were closing in on us and we had to do something or we would be caught, "Luffy, those guys are going to be a pain in the ass if they aren't dealt with." I called over my shoulder.

Luffy stopped, Helmeppo had tears running down his face in relief that he wasn't being dragged around anymore, "Don't move, raise your hands above your head!"

"No!" He said defiantly before holding Helmeppo in front of him, "Go ahead and shoot!" This gave me time to see which door it was, I knew it had the door knob on the other end of the door but it was easy to miss if one was in a hurry. I quickly spotted it behind the Marines which meant we ran right pass it.

"Luffy, its the door to the left down that way." I said, pointing it, "Third from the turn!" With a solid nod, Luffy charged with a screaming Helmeppo shield to go straight through the wall of Marines. I heard shouts and gun-shots from outside, we were running out of time, "Damn it!" I cursed, picking up my speed. After getting the keys from Helmeppo (who seemed to had passed out from shock), we bolted into the room and quickly spotted the swords.

"Alright, found the katana!" Luffy said, walking over to them and just looked at them. I wasted no time in grabbing all three swords and securing them to my belt, they kept slipping but it would have to do for now, "But there were three katanas there, which one belongs to Zoro?"

"We'll just have to give him all three but we have to hurry." I pointed to the window and Luffy moved to look at what was going on. The Marines had surrounded the whole base with most being in the courtyard near Zoro and Coby. I hurried to the window as well and cursed, "Luffy, I can't land as good as you but I know I fast way to the courtyard. You get down there and stall the Marines while I get Zoro his swords."

"But then he won't join my crew cause you would be the one who would give him his swords."

I sighed heavily, I had no time for this, "Ok, fine." I took the swords off of my belt and handed them to Luffy, "Hold these to your back, I'm gonna tie them to you. Just make sure you get down there quick or they'll be killed!" I told him before securing the three swords to his back. He turned back to me and grinned that famous huge smile of his.

"You care a lot about him, don't you?"

I paused, looking at Luffy for a moment and wondered about that myself. Sure, I have always liked Zoro since he was my utmost favorite character but I had never actually worried about him since I knew he wasn't real. Now, on the other hand, he _was _real. He lived and breathed and felt pain and happiness like everyone else. I worried about him a lot since I thought I knew the kind of guy he was but now, I didn't want to assume anything because he wasn't just some anime character, he was a human being...an incredibly strong one, I admit, but human nonetheless.

"Yeah...I do..." I turned and started to head down the hall I knew lead to a short cut, "Go get him, Luffy!" I shouted over my shoulder to him as I ran as fast as I possible could. I knew I couldn't do much but...I had to do something, anything. I wanted to help as much as I could since Zoro, whether realizing it or not, has helped me a lot.

_I don't like leaving debts still owed..._

I wanted to repay him and now, I wanted to do so for Luffy.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

"Yes! I have a companion!" That must of been Luffy which meant I was getting close but damn it, I missed a whole bunch of good stuff. I was coming to the end of the hall which lead to two double doors to the courtyard. My legs felt like jelly and my stomach prickled horribly with sharp pain but I didn't slow down, I bolted through the doors and sped around the corner, glad I ended up on the side I wanted to be on. I stood behind Zoro and Luffy who was trying to untie the knots with Coby still laying on the ground with his shoulder bleeding, poor kid. I slapped a hand to my face, wondering if Luffy realized he could just cut the ropes with the swords.

"That guy, how the?!"

"How did he manage to repel those bullets!"

I hurried over to Coby to look at his shoulder, "Hey, Coby. You still alive?" I asked before kneeling down and withdrawing the knife from my belt. He nodded, tears running down his face and I patted his head, "Ya a tough kid, Coby. Good job." I ignored their spazzing about Luffy trying to take Zoro as I cleaned the blood from his shoulder, trying to get a good look at the bullet, "It didn't go very far in so this is not gonna hurt as much...hold still though." I dug out the bullet and tore the bottom of the uniform I had still been wearing, quickly securing the wound. Poor Coby looked like he was going to be sick, "Hang in there kid and watch this." The Marines came charging, swords withdrawn and shouts for battle. Luffy was taking his sweet ass time untying the knots (he ended up making one knot tighter). I felt my anxiety rising as they drew closer and kicked up from the ground, knife in hand, "Luffy, move your hands!" He looked at me and then the knife before stepping aside, I quickly cut off one rope.

"Hurry up and give me my swords!" Zoro commanded, Luffy happily giving the swordsman his swords and I pulled Luffy away quickly.

It all happened so quickly that I couldn't believe that he was the same man who had been starving for almost a month tied out in miserable weather. Zoro had cut free his other bindings, equipped his swords in their designated places (_hand, mouth, hand_), and settled into a solid stance which blocked away all of the Marines' swords as they came barring down on us. The sight was amazing and I wished I would of had a camera with me to capture this moment. The Marines were scared shit-less, pale and shaking, as Zoro turned his head to glare menacingly behind him, "All of you better not move! You move...and I'll kill you."

"That is so cool!" Luffy and I said in unison with stars in our eyes.

"I already told you I'd be a pirate with you. Eitherway, after this incedent with the Marines, I'll be an outlaw too but its ok...I still have my goals." Zoro spoke surprisingly well with a sword clenched firmly between his teeth as Luffy walked a little closer to him and I stood behind him, "I'm going to be the worlds greatest swordsman! I no longer care if my name is clean or not...good-guy, bad-guy, it no longer matters! As long as my name is known worldwide!" I could help but to grin at him, happy to hear such strong resolve in his voice, "If you do something that ends up in the way of my goal, I will have to cut your stomach open to say sorry!"

_I resolve this year to finally take a step closer to my dream!_

I wished I had a strong resolve like him.

Luffy grinned at his new swordsman, "Good! To be the worlds number one swordsman! Since you wanna be the Pirate King's crew member, if you can't accomplish something that small then I would be very embarrassed as well!" He took a step back and my eyes widen, "Zoro, duck!"

"Shit! Zoro, move your ass!" I called out as Luffy went to swipe out his leg. Zoro managed to dodge in time to be missed by Luffy's leg.

"Gomu Gomu no Leg Sweeper!"

I cheered, fist pumping the air, "That was so cool!"

Zoro looked questioningly over to Luffy, "What are you?"

"I'm a rubber man!"

The Marines began to freak out again but I could help but to smile and I ran over to Zoro, "Zoro! You're ok!" I launched myself at him and gave him a quick hug, relieved beyond belief, "You know how worried I was, you bastard!"

The swordsman scoffed, "I told you things would be ok, didn't I? You're won fault for not believing me..." He mumbled, awkwardly patting my head before shoving me off, "Don't do that. We still have things we have to worry about." Suddenly, gunshots rang through the air and everyone turned to see such a horrible sight. Some of the Marines had shot themselves in the head at the order of Captain Morgan, blood quickly pooled on the dirty ground which left me a little shocked, "What the hell do these dumb marines think they're doing!?" Zoro growled before running off right behind Luffy, "Amber, stay here!"

"Damn it, Zoro!" I called out but stayed nonetheless, knowing perfectly well that I wouldn't be able to take on any of the Marines. Backyard bullies I could handle but trained-military personal, that was on a whole new level. I turned around to Coby as I sighed, "Well, looks like we're stuck here, kid..."

"A-Amber-chan! Behind you!" I blinked, confused, before feeling something cold being held to my neck before cursing to myself at letting my guard down because I knew exactly who it was behind me.

"Hello, Olive-Head..."

"You are such a pain in my side, you little thief!" I heard the click of the gun and steeled myself for what I was going to do, "Any last words?"

"Yeah, this AIN'T how you treat a fucking lady, dipshit!" I quickly reeled my foot back and slammed it hard on his foot. He howled, distracted for a moment, which was all I needed. I spun around, wiping out my leg to kick at his knees and as he fell over, I drove my other knee up to collide with him chin. I didn't have that much muscle on me so they weren't terribly strong and the strikes hurt me as well but damn, did it ever feel so good to kick this little shit's ass. "That was for tying me to a fucking pole and hitting the back of my head!"

"I didn't-" Helmeppo started to say as he got up but I landed another solid kick to his left shoulder.

"That was for making me starve!"

He stood up and pointed the gun at me but he was too slow. As he aimed the gun at me, I did a high kick and kicked it out of his hand before scrambling to catch it. I didn't know if it was cocked and loaded but I didn't care, I just wanted to scare him, "And this is for hurting my friends. You lost this game, you little shit." He raised his hands in surrender but grinned, I narrowed my eyes at him and wondered what he was thinking.

"Interesting how you have a knife yet choose not to use it." He said cockily and I glared at him.

"A chef shouldn't use their knives to hurt people, they're made for food and therefore should only be used on food." I said, suddenly felt a little like Sanji but I ignored that feeling for now, "What are you getting at?"

There was an evil glint in his eyes, "Then it is you who has lost this game." He grabbed my wrist and I accidentally pulled the trigger but to my horror, nothing happened. The gun had been unloaded this whole time. It didn't take much to disarm me and I dropped the gun, "Your stupid little moral costed you this fight and now it looks like I've won. I won't fall for that stupid little trick again." Then he grabbed my knife but I smirked which caused him to frown, "What's so funny?"

"Look behind you."

"Go Luffy!" Coby cheered and Helmeppo turned around to see his subordinates and his father laying flat on his back, defeated. He was shocked which felt very good to see but then he spun me around and held the knife to me.

"Wait!" He called out, Luffy turning around to glance at him before punching his father out, "You idiot, I told you to wait!" Everyone now turned to look at Helmeppo holding the knife to my neck and I could feel him shaking, vaguely wondering if he even had the guts to try and kill me with the knife. I saw Zoro tense up as he glared at Olive-head, "If you want this girl to survive then don't move!" This felt both weird and wrong, it was suppose to be Coby being held by the idiot so that he could let Luffy know he wasn't afraid to die. he had to realize this too and I knew right there, I had to do something.

"Coby!" I called out to the shaking kid who was right behind us, "How much does your dream mean to you? How far are you willing to go to obtain that dream?"

"I..." Coby said in a small voice before scrambling to his feet, determination burning in his eyes, "I would do anything for my dream!"

"Would you...give up for life for the sake of another though, even if it meant you couldn't complete your dreams?"

This struck a cord for a few people, I even felt Helmeppo tense up. Zoro's jaw tightened around Wado's hilt that sat in his mouth and Luffy touched his hat, I already knew those two would die for each other so the other could complete their dream but that loyalty, that bond, wasn't that strong yet. Coby swallowed heavily, considering my words and with strong confindence called out, "I'm not afraid of death!"

"I know..." Luffy grinned and wound back his fist as Captain Morgan shadowed over him, arm drawn up to strike down the lanky-armed kid.

"Luffy, behind you!" Coby called out. As Luffy's rubbery fist came flying over to Helmeppo, the idiot let go of me and I dove for the ground as he was sent flying. I covered my head and waited until I heard the sound of Helmeppo landing on the ground and looked up just in time for Zoro to defeat Morgan.

"Leave it to me, captain!" The Marines were shocked, I could see them trying to comprehend what had just happened as Zoro turned his attention back to them, "If you wanna arrest us, come and get us..." Coby helped me up and I ran over to Zoro as the Marines cheered. I saw the poor guy wobbly a bit on his feet before falling over. Having ate nothing for a month with little sleep and having to fight afterwards had finally taken its toll on him. I managed to catch him but since I was in weary condition myself, I fell right with him.

"Zoro?"

"Zoro-san!"

"Damn it, moss-head, you're fucking heavy!" I said with a smile, finally having been able to kept my promise to him, "Come on...lets get you cleaned up and food in your stomach."

"That...sounds nice..." He groaned as Luffy came over to help me get the swordsman to stand and the four of us walked out of the Marine fort, leaving the Marines to celebrate their victory.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>The final chapter for the Shells Town arc.

**Will Luffy help Amber find her brothers?**

**Fem-Brook Reactions (males):**

**Luffy = Nani?  
>Zoro = Flushed and stuttering<br>Sanji = Conflicted  
>Usopp = Would probably freak out too<br>Franky = May I see your - oh wait, nevermind, yohohoho~!**

**F.R.F.**

**Maillet**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and NO PAIRINGS

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro.

To **Pizzafan123 **and **Son of Whitebeard**, thank you for your reviews!

And to **Taiya N. Strantegar**, thank you for adding this story to your follow list!

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_For whatever the reason,  
>Whatever their cause,<br>No matter the reaction,  
>The question will never change.<em>

_Will you be my nakama?_

**Chapter 8: The Final Choice**

We went to _Food Foo, _a small restaurant that Rika's mother (Ririka) owned. Zoro and I were directed to the bathroom so that we could clean up, I had actually been surprised when Zoro went the wrong way in such a small building. I told Zoro to go first so that he could rest after and as I showered, Ririka washed our clothes (Zoro wearing a spare set of clothes I had originally stole for him a while back). After knowing for sure that the swordsman was deep asleep, I quickly patched him up since I knew he wouldn't want me to do so if he was awake though I had been surprised he didn't wake up when I stitched the small cut on his left cheek. I had also cleaned up Coby's wound which seemed to have been doing a lot better. I decided to keep the Marine uniform in case I ever had to sneak into a Marine fort again but didn't think I would be doing so in the near future. I helped Ririka and Rika cook the food, telling silly stories that Luffy seemed to enjoy to pass the time until the food was done and Zoro was awake. A few times, I had to fend off greedy rubbery fingers and told Luffy that if he continued, there wasn't going to be a plate for him.

After Zoro and I got changed back into our normal clothes, I felt happy to finally be wearing my jeans and blouse. Through the whole meal, no one really talked since everyone had been starving but I had caught myself staring at Zoro's minty green hair. I couldn't believe that was his real hair but damn, it looked so fine on him.

Soon after, Zoro leaned back in his chair and patted his now full stomach, "Ah, I'm so full! Haven't eaten for days, almost starved to death!" He laughed and I felt my face fall.

"And why are you laughing at that?" I mumbled, finishing my cup of jasmine tea.

"Then its impossible for you to last a month." Luffy said around a mouth full of food and I bonked him for talking with his mouth full.

"You're so scrawny, how come you can still eat more than me?"

"Its a mysterious stomach, it is..." I said, stretching out the word "_mysterious_" like Luffy would do.

"Amber, stop saying weird things."

"Yes, mother..."

Zoro's face turned red but decided not to say anything except to sigh, I grinned up at him, "Sorry...even I ate quite a lot." Coby apologized as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with a nervous smile.

"Don't worry! Keep eating, you saved our town." Ririka smiled at us as Rika and Luffy talked though I had tuned out of their conversation. Now that Zoro was finally out of the Marine's clutches, I wasn't sure what i should be doing next. I had to know what happened the night before I arrived in the One Piece world and if my brothers had the same fate as me. If they had come along with me, then where were they? I frowned, confused and utterly hopeless. I didn't think I should go with Luffy since he and Zoro had their own adventure ahead of them but man, did I really want to join them.

"Yup, just you, me, and Amber!"

"Huh?" I said dumbly as I blinked at Luffy, "What about me?"

Zoro and Luffy looked at me as I stared at them, confused, "You're part of my crew too!"

"WHAT?! You didn't even ask me!" I sputtered, not believing my luck though if it was good luck or bad luck, I couldn't decide which.

"I don't need to ask you, you're definitely joining!" Damn his confidence.

"Luffy...I...I would love to but I..." I stood up, placing my hands on the table and leaning forward, "I have to know what happened to my brothers. I...I don't know..." I trailed off, my memories fogging my mind as images began to unfold. I remembered us, laughing as we played card games with snacks and drinks littering the table and the lights barely on. Music softly played so that it didn't disturb our parents who were fast asleep, the small black cat slept on my youngest brothers lap. Even if we had argued the night before I came to One Piece, even if we said those hurtful words and bitter lies, we cared a lot about each other. I never realized how terrified I was at the thought of never seeing them again and I choked back the tears, "I don't know what happened to me or to them but I'm scared that I'll never see them again. They just have to be out there somewhere, I know they are, and I wanna take them back home. I want my brothers again!"

"Then come with us, we'll help you find your brothers!" Luffy grinned at me and I felt as if my heart broke in half. It wasn't because I was upset, it was far from that I was so overjoyed that Luffy wanted to help me that I just wanted to cry, "That's your dream, right? To find your brothers and to go back home?" I nodded as I sunk back down to my chair, "Then join my crew, you'll definitely find them!"

I smiled sadly, "What happens if I complete my dream before you?"

"Hmmm...it won't matter, you'll always be part of my crew." He didn't need my confirmation to know I would join his crew until I found my brothers and returned home, the details I could tell him when we were at sea.

"Excuse me?" Called a voice from behind the door and we all looked at each other, Ririka called for whoever it was to come in and in stepped Ripper. I knew that after Morgan's defeat, Ripper had taken temporary charge of the fort though if he was still in charge or if someone else had taken his spot after the two year time-skip, I didn't know. I stood up and saw his eyes widen a fraction before we saluted each other. He had been one of the Marines who had been decent enough and probably one of the few who had not participated in the fight, he had a lousy poker face though (the beli in my bag was proof of that). I sat back down, wiping away from tears before anyone could ask about them, "We are wondering are you really...pirates?" He was hesitant and curious, almost hopeful that we weren't but even he wasn't stupid enough to believe anything else.

Luffy leaned back in his chair, staring Ripper straight in the eye, "Yeah, I just found my my first crew members so that would make us pirates now!"

Ripper looked to me, as if to ask me if this was true and I nodded my head, "I joined a few seconds ago, sorry guys." I shrugged and he sighed, sounding disappointed but understanding.

"Even though you're pirates, in reality...you saved our town and base. For that, we're grateful but since you are pirates...as Marines, we cannot allow you to stay any longer. Please leave this place immediately. As for the events that occurred here, we will be reporting it to headquarters."

I understood why he had to do that, why he still had to report us. If Ripper didn't explain to HQ what had happened at the fort then Morgan would only take control again and things would be worse. Without telling them what had happened, no one could take Morgan's place officially and if they tried, it would only cause trouble. They still had a job to do though since they were Marines, they still had to keep pirates out of their hometowns. As much as they probably didn't want to, they had no choice but to kick us out of Shells Town.

The people outside raved at the Marines' choice but we didn't care. All three of us got up and got ready to leave. Zoro grabbed his swords and I grabbed my bag, leaving Coby frozen stiff at what he should do.

_How much does your dream mean to you? How far are you willing to go to obtain that dream?_

"Aren't you with their group?" Ripper questioned Coby, everyone turned to look at the pink haired boy who stood, shaking and stuttering.

"I...I...I'm not..." He seemed so sad he had to tell his first ever friend that he wasn't a part of him, I couldn't imagine how much it hurt, "I'm not with them!"

Luffy grinned, happy that Coby was taking his first steps towards him dreams but I knew that moment of hesitation had cost him, that Ripper wasn't going to believe him. Ripper stopped us and questioned if he was telling the truth which left Luffy to take drastic measures. He started to tell the Marines that no, Coby wasn't part of our pirate crew but had been, for two years, been part of Alvida's crew. I watched from the doorway, arms folded and waited patiently for what I knew was to come. Coby paled, shaking slightly as I saw his eyes plead to Luffy to stop talking but he wouldn't. Suddenly, Coby suddenly gave a surprisingly strong swing at Luffy's jaw which sent the rubber-boy stumbling backwards. Luffy, of course being a seasoned-fighter, had used this momentum to throw an equally strong swing at Coby.

Anyone on the outside would have only saw a pirate beat up a helpless kid but both Zoro and I saw what was really there, a friend helping out a friend.

I took a second look at what was going on and frowned...Luffy was kinda going over-board. I nudged Zoro and nodded my head towards Luffy, he grunted his agreement and yanked the back of Luffy's vest to get him to stop.

"I know he isn't your friend, please leave this town immediately!" Ripper commanded and we left with no fuss. The townspeople were silent, shocked and in awe, as we walked to the ports. Zoro taking a chance to scare some of the Marines and I took a chance to wave good-bye to them. It had been actually quite nice to be a "Marine" at Shells Town for those three first days and it if wasn't for the fact that I had to search for answers and possibly my brothers, I would have stayed.

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We soon arrived at the ports and Zoro seemed less than impressed with the dinky little boat Luffy owned. He turned to me and raised a brow but I shrugged, throwing my bag into the boat and hopping aboard as well. The sea smelt salty but oh-so wonderful. The waters were much bluer than the waters in my own world and I was left breathless at the sight. As Luffy and Zoro talked, getting ready to sail away, I pulled out my blanket and settled it down to sit on when Coby came running up to us, panting.

"L...Lu...Luffy-san!" He said, regaining his breath and straightening up to salute us, "Thank you very much! I will never forget you for the rest of my life!"

"I've never seen a Marine saluting a pirate." Zoro mused, a smirk on his face.

"There's a first time for everything, Zoro-kun!" I laughed as I stood up.

"Coby! We'll meet again!" I glanced behind Coby to the Marines coming closer to the port, the boy was completely unaware of it but I smiled and stood ready to salute back.

"Group Salute!" Ripper commanded and everyone saluted us, myself returning one back. We pushed off from the docks and started to rail out to sea. Luffy stood tall and proud, waving good-bye and I moved to stand right beside him.

"Thank you, guys! I wish you luck in the future!" I called out, waving along side my new captain.

"Yahoo! We're off! Grand Line, here we come!"

I laughed and settled myself down on the boat, "Thank you, Zoro and Luffy...for everything. I don't know where I would be without you guys."

"Don't sweat it." Zoro mumbled, nestling against the boat for some well deserved rest. I yawned too, never realizing how much sleep I lost while tied to that pole for 3-4 days. I went to my bag and grabbed my blanket, "Besides, didn't you say you didn't like to leave a debt unpaid?"

"Yeah I did...which reminds me, Zoro, you owe me." I grinned up at his flustered face, Luffy laughing at the look the usually stoic swordsman was wearing, "But I think I know a way you can repay me, Zo-ro-kun~" Oh my, his face was _really_ red! This was fun.

"I don't owe you anything, Ero-tooth!"

"Do too! I damn well risked my life to feed you!" I wrapped the blanket around me and moved to sit next to him. He shuffled a little away from me but I shuffled right on over to lean against him, "I'm sleepy..." I was so tired but being out at sea was a little cold. I heard him sigh heavily and I grinned in victory, "You're so cozy, by the way..."

"Shut up and go to sleep..."

It was the first time in days I had ever slept so good.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>The adventure begins! Amber's first time at sea!

**Short chapter this time but I wanted to leave it at this point...heeeeeey, sexy swordsman. Op-op-op, Opa Opa no Mi!**

**F.R.F.  
><strong>**Maillet**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and NO PAIRINGS

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro.

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_Set forth our main adventure  
>But stop along the way<br>To seek such wondrous treasures,  
>Where gold isn't the thing<em>

**Chapter 9: The Reasons We Go on**

"Amber..." Luffy whined behind me as I crouched over my handy work, "I'm hungry!"

I had honestly started to see why Sanji would get so annoyed with him, the kid ate a lot. When I say a lot, I meant _a fucking lot_! Even after eating already just 15 minutes ago, he said he was still hungry and no amount of explaining that we needed to stretch out our ration made him stop. So after hearing him beg me to make him something (I was the only one who seemed to know how to cook anything), I started to make sandwiches. Unfortunately, Luffy was also impatient and I felt as though my wits were coming towards an end and I had only been out at sea with him for 3 days now.

"Yeah and I'm making you food so go sit down or this will all go overboard." I threatened but didn't even consider doing such as it would leave me and Zoro short on food. My captain (ah, it was still weird to think that since I was 4 years older than him) pouted and sat down with a huff, "You're lucky I'm even making you anything to begin with. We don't have a lot of food to begin with and until we get to a town for supplies, we really shouldn't eat much."

Zoro snorted, amused, "It's absolutely funny that you guys have no navigation skills..." I felt my brow twitch, feeling the need to point out two obvious facts.

"Ok, for one thing, I've told you _I_ am not from here so obviously _I_ wouldn't know the seas. Another thing, its ironic to hear that coming from _you_ since _you_ got lost to the bathroom _that was straight down a fucking hall_!"

"Oi! I don't get lost!" He defended himself and I only rolled my eyes, turning my attention back to 2nd lunch.

"I've always just been wandering!" Luffy piped up though was eyeing the sandwiches.

"Sorta like Zoro except he's been capturing pirates for rewards." I finished the sandwiches and gave the biggest one to Luffy who happily ate. I offered one to Zoro and took the smallest one for myself as I never ate much to start with.

"I don't remember me saying that I live completely off rewards!" Zoro grumbled before taking a bite of the sandwich, "I was searching for a man, that's why I left to the sea but now I can't find my way home...I had no choice but to start hunting pirates for a living. Just to get a little bit for the living expenses..." Then he trailed off, seeming to be lost in his thoughts. Wow, this guy got lost way to easily, even in his own head!

"Zoro...that's practically the definition for being lost..." I deadpanned at him, nibbling on my sandwich but I wasn't really into it so I handed it to Luffy as he finished his own.

"Shut up! You're the one who's lost!"

"You can't tell me that, moss-head!"

Zoro grumbled, sitting back and crossing his arms as he pointedly stared out to sea, "Anyways, never heard of pirates who don't know how to navigate. How do you expect to go to the Grand Line like this? You should hurry and find a crew-mate who knows how to navigate!"

Luffy seemed to consider the idea for a moment before, obviously, letting his mind wander off (unattended...), "And someone who knows how to cook and someone for singing..."

I felt my brow twitch again, wondering if he was even realizing what he was saying, "Someone who knows how to cook, eh?" I said dangerously before bonking him hard on the head, "Then why the hell were you bugging me for fucking food, shitty rubber bastard?!"

"S-Sorry..."

Luffy and Zoro's stomachs suddenly gave a loud growl and both flopped on their backs on the floor, "So hungry..." They groaned but I huffed and crossed my arms.

"Don't expect me to make you anything again, 2nd lunch was one thing but a 3rd lunch is careless!" I growled out. I knew why they ate more compared to me. Not only were they men (who take in a lot more calories than females) but both were very active compared to me, even if I did sports. The amount of strength they exert with every move they did required more ATP to store and release energy which meant they slept and ate a lot more than others (since ATP in cells cannot store large amounts of energy for long periods of time). I sighed, rubbing my forehead with the palm of my hand as I flopped back onto the boat.

"Oh look, a bird!"

"Looks pretty tasty!"

"Hmm?" I glanced over to my crew-mates before looking to the skies to see what they were taking about. High above us was a rather large bird and I raised a brow at them, "Don't tell me..."

"Let's eat that bird!" Oh I was having a bad feeling about this...

Zoro lifted his head and raised a brow at Luffy, "How are we going to eat it?"

"Yeah, you have to cook meat and no way in hell am I setting our boat on fire!" I grumbled, fiddling with my clothes to straighten them out.

"I'll go get it. Watch my specialty!" I realized what was about to happen, "Come on, Amber. You gonna help me catch it!" he suddenly wrapped an arm around my waist and I quickly paled, a familiar nauseated feeling growing in the pit of my stomach.

"W-Wait, Luffy, I think I should-"

"Gomu Gomu no Rocket!"

We soared through the air and I had to almost curl up so that I didn't get whiplash, "DAMN IT, LUFFY!"

We suddenly stopped and thank Lord I knew why, "Help!" I was thankful I had my eyes closed or I would have probably fainted at being up so high above the sea. Down below, I could hear Zoro freaking out but what he was saying was lost in the whistling winds. I couldn't help but to remember the time I had fallen from the sky but instead of going down, I was going sideways. There was a commotion down below and right there, I knew that Zoro would lose sight of us.

"L-Luffy!" I stuttered, I _really_ didn't like heights!

"Sorry, Amber!"

"When we land on solid ground, you are _so_ in for it!"

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We had been flying for hours and I knew Luffy's arm was getting tired but he didn't dare let me go, it would have been very enduring if I wasn't currently flying high above a vast ocean. I had calmed down a little, though still freaked out, but growing ever bored. Luffy hadn't said a word the whole time which meant he must of been in deep thought, "Amber, can I ask you something?"

I sighed, thankful for the break in silence, "Go ahead, shoot."

"What did you mean by earlier when you said you weren't from around here? Are you lost too?" He sounded almost child like as he spoke the question, curious but still held onto his concern. I frowned a bit but didn't look at him as my eyes were still closed. I wondered if I should tell him the truth like I had with Zoro, I knew he would more than likely believe me since he was a very gullible kid (not that I would lie to him) but also he has seen and heard of a lot of weird shit in his life.

"Luffy, I'm not sure you will believe me but...just know that I wouldn't lie to you. Its not just because you're my captain but my friend...I'm...from a different world, really."

"Oh..." He didn't sound convinced and I shrugged, not blaming him.

"Its ok if you don't believe me, Zoro finds it hard to swallow too...but unfortunately, its the truth for me...when you saw me tied to the pole, I had only been there for about 3-4 days. It was about 3 days before that that I had arrived but...I don't even know how. The last thing I remember was hanging out with my brothers...it was New Years Eve and I gave my resolution. Whatever happened after that is a mystery cause the next thing I know, I'm falling from the sky. That was how I met Zoro..."

"And you think the same thing happened to your brothers?"

I nodded, feeling a lump form in my throat at the thought of them, "Yeah, most likely since I had been in the same room as them but I don't know where they would be."

I missed our crazy little antics, even as we moved into adulthood. After I had moved out of our parents place, things just weren't the same. We barely talked to each other and slowly, I felt as if we were drifting apart. It worried me that I hadn't noticed this until I got here and frowned, maybe that was why I was in One Piece but why this place and what of my little brothers?

"Amber?" Luffy said a little stronger this time and I perked up, listening intently, "I believe you..."

"Thanks, Luffy." I smiled but kept my eyes closed.

"Hey! I see dry land!" Ah now the happy moment was ruined. I knew exactly what was to come and I had to suppress a groan, "Looks pretty dead to me though..."

"Maybe everyone is still asleep. Can you see Zoro and the boat anywhere?"

There was a moment of silence, "Nope, must have lost us. Hahaha, you're right, he does get lost easily!" Luffy cheerfully chuckled and I suddenly felt an impending doom, "Hey, what's-" Luffy didn't get a chance to finish the sentence as a cannonball came hurtling right at us and hit the bird. I could smell the burnt feathers as we dropped to the ground and I clutched tightly onto Luffy.

"Luffy!"

"Hang on!"

"This is why you shouldn't just rocket people up in the sky!" He grabbed hold of me and turned us around so that I would land on him. Unlike the first time I fell from the sky, this was more quick and loud. It must have been because I had been regaining consciousness or the fact that Luffy equaled up to more weight being pulled down by gravity. We hit the ground hard, creating a crater and dust flying everywhere. I coughed but thankfully my yes didn't water since they were already closed, "Why did they shoot a cannon at us? Damn it..."

"I'm-" I coughed, "Sure it wasn't us..." I stood up and brushed the dirt off my clothes before straightening them out, "We're on dry land again which is good so..." I trailed off, realizing where we were and slapped my head. I muttered under my breath but Luffy just laughed, happy to be safe.

"Oh boss, you're finally here!" Came a female voice and I blinked, looking straight at the source. In real life, Nami was a very attractive person with a curvy body for a lady her age, it wasn't even an over exaggerated curve too but more natural. Her hair was shoulder length and a rich shade of orange, her eyes large and a lighter brown than Luffy's. I blinked again though when I realized that she had been looking straight at me when she mentioned her "boss", "I've been waiting for you to save me!" She happily said as she started to turn around.

"Hey wait, I-" Why did I always end up in these messes?

"I'll leave everything to you!"

"Shit..." I said before turning my attention back to the three large men who were grinning at us and cracking their knuckles, "Welp...Luffy, looks like your ass kicking isn't gonna be handed to you." I turned to Luffy who was getting ready for the fight, "Ready?"

The fight was shorter than expected which had mainly consisted of Luffy landing one hit KO's and my dodging at the right time so that the other guy would hurt his partners. At one point, one of them managed to knock off Luffy's hat and that was when things got deadly as no one is suppose to touch the hat.

It was practically a law.

"Wow, your really strong!" We looked up to Nami who was sitting perfectly safe above us but looking mighty impressed, "You beat those guys with swords bare-handed."

"Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall." I called back with a shrug.

"I'm a thief who steals treasure from pirates. My name is Nami, want to be partners?"

"Steals from pirates?" Frowned Luffy and I raised a brow.

"Partners?"

"Yeah, I'm a thief only steals from pirates. If we team up, we could get a lot of money." It was almost sad knowing why she wanted so much money in the first place. Not only had she grown up poor and wasn't able to afford they things she much less needed but it was the reason why her surrogate, Belle-mere, died. Not only that but if she was going to save her village from Arlong, she needed a lot of money.

"No way! We're not interested in teaming up with you!" Luffy claimed as he walked away.

"What about you then?" I looked over to Nami and pursed my lips together in a thin line, "You seem pretty strong yourself."

I shrugged, "I did manage to impersonate a Marine for three days but I have something I need to do, something important and that lanky kid." I said, pointing to Luffy, "Is my ticket to that." I waved good-bye as I followed Luffy.

"Hang on a second!" We stopped and turned to look at Nami who seemed a little frustrated but smiling, "So what's that hat? When you said they nearly damaged it you got mad. Is it expensive?"

Luffy placed a hand on his hat but pouted at the thief, "This is my treasure!"

I could see the dollar signs in her eyes as she wondered if there was treasure or jewels in it. I snorted a laugh as I stuck my hands in my pockets, walking with Luffy down the street with Nami following right beside us, "Na, its more like sentimental value. Like...something that has a lot of value to yourself but others won't see it." I explained but Nami looked less then impressed, "That hat represents a promise to a friend and Luffy is the kind of person to keep his promise."

A sudden loud growl came from Luffy's stomach and I slapped my forehead as Nami giggled slightly, "Hey, how about you guys stop to eat?"

"Food?"

I sighed, "Yes, Luffy...food..."

I was sure everyone had some explaining to do.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>Ingenues! Grand Line Map Theft!

**F.R.F.  
><strong>**Maillet**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and _NO PAIRINGS_

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro.

To **Pizzafan123**, I'm happy you are loving the story so far, I do apologize for any spelling mistakes (I still try and edit them out but I tend to miss them since I'm kinda dyslectic)

And to **IIangelofmusicII**, its good to hear that I'm keeping the characters IC, I tend to worry if they seem OOC

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_When worse men speak,  
>Better men judge<br>And those thoughts shines  
>On the idiots who spoke<em>

**Chapter 10: Wrong Turns**

"No way!" Nami shouted at Luffy as I tided up the dishes left at the table, I sighed as my headache began to grow.

The house we were in was deserted, left by its owners in order to stay out of the conflict that plagued the island. As soon as we had stepped in, I set to work making a meal, not wanting the food to go to waste. Nami helped a little while Luffy bounced all over the place, excited for more food. As soon as I had set the food on the table, my gluttonous captain started to gorge which Nami cringed at but I shrugged, handing her a plate and telling her to eat it while it was hot.

After a few moments, Luffy had asked Nami is the house was her's which, of course, it wasn't. She went onto explain how the townspeople had ran away to stay out of the conflict caused by Buggy the Pirate (and that the guy _loved cannons_ which I choked on my food for) before explaining a little about the man himself but no amount of explanations got through Luffy's rubbery head at how dangerous he was. I had to admit, Buggy was kinda of dangerous but compared to other pirates...he wasn't all that impressive. As our meal came to an end, I picked up dishes to start cleaning up since even if the house was abandoned for now, it was still someone's house.

That was when Luffy asked if Nami knew how to navigate which she replied that she did and over excited at finding a navigator like Zoro had mentioned, Luffy expressed his joy and let slip that we were pirates.

Nami down right refused, "So you guys are pirates? Forget it! We didn't have this conversation, I don't want to team up with you guys!" She turned to us as I calmly dried my hands on a towel, raising a brow at her as she speculated that Luffy was going to use some map to find treasure that was in his hat. I snorted.

"I told you Nami, its just a plain old straw hat."

"Yeah, I got this hat ages ago ago from a friend. Its my precious treasure! I swore myself to gather up a crew and become a pirate to the person who have me this hat!" Luffy explained, taking off the hat and staring at it with a bright smile on his face. Nami looked at him, almost a little shocked but it quickly faded back into annoyance.

"Everything's pirate this, pirate that. It's a pathetically sad era." She hopped off the table and turned to glare at us, "The things I hate most in this world are pirates! I only like money and tangerines!"

I knew what was to come next and sighed, I wasn't planning on looking like an idiot by falling for Nami's trap (ah look, her scheming face!) and being stuck in a cage, "Well the only thing I would like right now is to know where the heck our other crew member is. I'm sure he will know to come to this island so I'm heading for the docks to wait for him." I said before waving good-bye, "Try and not to be idiots while I'm gone."

I quietly closed the door, I could hear Nami and Luffy talking but I decided to ignore it in favor of my sanity. If I got too attached to Luffy and the others than it would only cause me more trouble when it came time time to leave. I had to look for answers but I doubt Orange Town would have any for me. I looked around, trying to figure out where the docks might have been. I wasn't the best with directions (though no where nearly as bad as Zoro and at least I could admit I was lost...after a while), I couldn't tell my left from my right unless I looked at my hands. I usually used buildings or other structures as geological markers but since I had my eyes closed for the entire time I had been up in the air and the fact that my memory of the place was hazy at best, I was...confused as to where I should go. I technically wasn't lost until I started moving.

"Alright, I'll just pick a direction..." I looked down the 3 roads that I could go and decided to pick a random direction by closing my eyes and spinning around as I pointed forward, I ended up stopping on the road to the left of me (or was it my right?) and marched on with confidence.

After 3 hours of walking, I could officially admit I that I was lost...

"Damn it! I swore I walked by that place before!" I growled, frustrated and confused as I fiddled to fix my bun for the 6th time in 3 hours, "Stupid buildings are all the same, I can't tell where I'm going!" I had to find Zoro before it was too late. If anything happened to Nami or Luffy because Zoro was late getting to Buggy's base then I would be shit out of luck in finding my answers. Of course I knew that Zoro would save Nami and Luffy in time but the fact that I was now in their plot-line meant that things might not happen the way they should have. The fact that I joined Luffy I knew was going to end up affecting some things and if my brothers really were in One Piece, they could affect stuff as well, "We've got to get out of here soon..."

Suddenly, the ground shook and an almost thunderous sound boomed across the air. I felt goosebumps tingle as I saw building after building collapse in the distance and my eyes widen. Buggy had shot one of his cannonballs as an example to Nami and Luffy of his power which meant that the cannonball was going to be lit again soon but this time, it was going to be aimed at Luffy. I cursed, looking at the direction of which the cannonball came from and took off running in that direction without a second thought as to what I was doing, "Damn it, Luffy!" I growled, kicking my feet off the ground to run as fast as I could.

_You would make a good swordsman..._

I couldn't let Zoro down, no matter how much I didn't want to get attached to them.

_Amber? I believe you..._

I couldn't let Luffy down, even if I couldn't stay with them.

I was a Straw Hat Pirate, I had to look out for my friends and family alike.

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Another shot rang out but I was still so far away. I had ended up taking a few wrong turns and somehow ended up at the docks (the place I had originally been trying to get to). I took a moment to grab my bag, pushing pass these 3 men who happened to be standing there (hmm, they seemed familiar...) before heading back into the direction of town. Now that I had my bag with my compass and telescope, it was going to be a lot easier to actually get to where I needed to be.

Since the shot that had rang out before was most likely around the time where Zoro, Nami, and Luffy were escaping, I saw no point in actually going to Buggy's base since they would be gone by the time I got there so the next place to meet them would be at the pet food store that Shushu was guarding. I didn't know exactly where it would be though so I had climbed up to one of the rooftops (uttering ignoring my fear of heights for the moment) and used the telescope to quickly locate the store. It was surprisingly close by from where I currently was so I had no problems finding my way there.

As I approached the store, I looked around for Zoro and Luffy but alas, they weren't there yet, "Should of figured with an injury like that..." I mumbled, stuffing my hands in my pockets as I walked over to the shop and quickly spotting the small white dog guarding it. He didn't even turn his head as I settled myself right next to him, "Hey there, pup." I greeted, having nothing else better to do. I reached a hand out and petted him, he still didn't move his head but his tail was wagging happily and I chuckled, "Hope ya don't mind if I wait for my friends, they should be here soon...but I don't think I will like what I see." I explained before sighing, suddenly feeling very weary, "Why can't I meet normal guys?"

The minutes felt like hours to me and my anxiety grew the more I didn't see them. A few times I felt like getting up and looking for them myself but always quickly reasoned that they would be there soon and I would only end up missing them if I left the shop. It must have been almost an hour later when they started to come into view and I shot up from my seat to run over to them, "Zoro! Luffy!" I called out. I shouldn't have been surprised that Luffy was in a cage and Zoro was hurt (again) but I couldn't help it, I stopped a few feet away from them and paled, "Luffy, I told you NOT to be an idiot when I left! Why the hell are you in a cage?!"

"It's not my fault!"

"That doesn't answer my question!"

"It doesn't matter right now, we just have to get out of here." Zoro grunted and I finally turned to look at him, my anger fading as I looked at his wound held tight under bloody fingers. He looked at me, frowning, and pressed on, "Don't worry about it, I'm fine."

"Zoro, you look like you're about to pass out, you're most certainly not fine!" I growled, throwing my hands up in the air because I knew he wasn't going to listen to me. It was only a moment later that Zoro fell over right in front of Shushu, groaning, "I told you so..."

"Shut...up...Amber..."

"Doggie!" Luffy grinned, rocking and rolling the cage over to the still dog as I sighed and went to my bag to get the first aid kit, "What is this? Is it really a dog?"

"Luffy, leave the dog alone. Zoro, move your hand already." I flopped myself next to the swordsman who leaned himself against a pole, glaring slightly at me in annoyance.

"I told you, I'm fine. I just need some sleep..."

"What you need is stitches and a good kick in the ass _for scaring me like this_!" I scolded him, yanking on his left ear hard, "You're lucky your so _damn_ attractive or I would have done so the moment you fell right over!"

"Stop saying weird shit like that, woman!" He pushed me away and I glared at him. Suddenly, we heard a shout and looked over to Luffy and Shushu fighting. I felt my eye twitch, wondering why I decided to follow them, "You idiot, do you even know the seriousness of the situation here?!" Zoro freaked and I bonked him hard on the head.

"Don't stress out or you'll make your wound worse! Luffy, I _told_ you to leave that dog alone!" I was letting my temper flare again and sat back down next to Shushu as I groaned, resting my face in my palms, "My brothers were one thing but you guys..."

"Stupid dog..."

"I don't feel so good..."

"You three, what on Earth are you guys doing?" I looked through my fingers and looked up at Nami who stood in front of us with her hands on her hips and pity in her eyes, "If you lay around here in the middle of the street, Buggy will definitely find you."

"We know but we've hit a few snags." I grumbled, looking over to my two crew mates, "What about you? What are you doing?"

"I just came to repay my debt to you guys because they saved my life at Buggy's place." I raised my brow as Luffy and Zoro looked up over to Nami as she tossed a key in between the two guys but right in front of Shushu.

"The key! You stole the key!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly.

Nami sighed, seeming disappointed, "Yeah...even if I think so myself it was a really dumb thing to do...because of that I couldn't steal any treasure." As Luffy and Zoro celebrated, I just stared at the key because I felt that if I moved for it that Shushu was going to eat it. Maybe if I waited for a good time, I could snatch the key before-

I was too late as Shushu picked up the key, tossed it in the air, and swallowed it whole before giving a happy bark and wagging its tail. It left Nami, Zoro, and Luffy with shocked faces and me with a deadpanned look, "I should have known..."

Luffy freaked, shaking the dog and telling him to spit out the key with me yelling at Luffy to drop the dog already. Zoro perked up, hearing the sounds of footsteps and I turned to see a strange looking old man, "Oi, you people! Don't do anything to Shushu!"

"Shushu?"

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>The adventure continues!

**F.R.F.  
><strong>**Maillet**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and _NO PAIRINGS_

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro. Don't worry, the others will show up soon after Orange town!

To **Alynn-Aorels**, thank you for adding this story to your follows and favs!

And thanks again **Pizzafan123** for adding this to your favs!

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_Because we have a purpose,  
>Because we have hope,<br>Because we have a dream,  
>Because we have each other<em>

_That's why we fight_

**Chapter 11: Because**

"You're such an idiot..." I sighed as I dried my hands and walked back into the room Zoro was in, the man in question just glared at me before giving a jaw cracking yawn.

After Mayor Boodle showed up, he helped Zoro to his house to recover from his wound and I tagged along, much to the swordsman protest. Boodle suggested that Zoro go see the towns doctor instead but he refused, saying that a good sleep would be all he would need but I told the mayor that I would be helping Zoro instead as I didn't want him to bite the doctor. Of course, Zoro complained that he didn't bite people but I ignored that as I got to work, taking out the things I would need to stitch him up again. I didn't know how to do proper medical stitches but I did know how to sow, I figured it was pretty much the same thing.

After getting him to take off his shirt and haramaki (he accused me of perverted things...which he may have been right about, but that's all I'm saying), I got him to lay on the floor as I didn't want blood on the bed sheets. It was a little difficult to stitch up his wound in the dark but I managed fairly well. After cleaning and bandaging it up, I helped him to the bed and went to wash my hands.

"How am I an idiot? I had to get that cage out of there somehow and we didn't have the key with us." Zoro defended himself, sitting up a bit before I pushed him back down on his bed.

"Don't sit up and...that's not what I mean..." I flopped on the chair beside the bed with a new needle and thread in hand, his haramaki in my lap. I had washed his shirt and haramaki as he was getting changed to get the blood out and decided to make the repairs to them, "You're an idiot for being so damn stubborn, I freaked out when I saw you were hurt again, kay?" I mumbled, focusing on my sowing job. He didn't say anything as I continued, "I know you're strong, trust me I know that for a fact...but don't you think it hurts other people when _they_ see you get hurt and want to help but can't?"

"_They_ shouldn't worry though, I've had worse than this and survived." He sounded less heated though it might have been because he was tired.

"_They_ care a lot about you though and sure, you might have had worse done to you but it doesn't change the fact that they don't want to see you in pain (which I can tell you are so don't you dare start lying to me too)...it just makes it worse when you out right refuse to let us help you. Even if you don't think you, yourself, need any help...can you let us help you so that we can be more at ease?" I felt slightly torn between actually caring about Luffy, Nami, and Zoro. I kept telling myself that I wasn't going to stay with them because I had to return home and I had to find my brothers. Of course, it hurt worse to think about them as I had been very close to them, but I couldn't help but to care about the others too.

I had been very young when I got into One Piece, I use to watch it everyday when I came on TV. My brothers enjoyed it too but never as much as I did. I liked a lot of the characters because they were funny or badass or whatever reason I thought of but if one of them were to die, I knew I wouldn't care that much about it since I knew they weren't real. Now that I had landed myself in their world, all that I remembered from the show was all too painful because they were real. I had told myself the moment I found out that I was actually in One Piece, I wouldn't get attached to anyone since it would be painful when I had to say good-bye, but I did and now realizing what was going to happen to them...

I took a shaky sigh of breath, rubbing my eyes, "Even if I'm not going to be here forever," I felt my eyes water more, "Even if I won't be there to see you guys complete your dreams," I didn't realize I was even clenching my fist hard into the haramaki, "Even though I know all of that...why should it hurt me if your being stubborn?"

_Because I care..._

I heard the creaking of the bed and I knew Zoro was sitting up again, I heard him sigh heavily as he reached an arm over my shoulders to pull me into a one-armed hug.

_Because I think of you guys as my friends..._

I tried to push his hand away but he held on firm, leaning my head on his shoulder.

_Even if you guys don't think the same..._

"I'm...sorry..." He mumbled awkwardly and I couldn't help but to chuckle at him, "I didn't mean to make you guys worry, I just know my body better than others so I know when I need to stop and when I need to go on...but I still didn't mean..."

"I know, Zoro, I know..." I dried my eyes and pushed off of him, "You should get some sleep before anything happens." I waited until he laid back down and fell asleep before continuing on with my sowing. It was nice to see, at least, that I wasn't the only one getting attached to someone who wasn't going to be there.

It was moments later that I heard the loud roaring of Richie the lion and frowned, "That's right, Shushu is going to lose his treasure..." I mumbled before glancing over to Zoro to see if he woke up but he still snored loudly away, unaware of what was going on, "I would try and help out...but I don't think there is anything I can do..." I said before sighing, "All I can do is wait until that cannonball comes roaring through here..." I later heard the sounds of metal being torn and I flinched, knowing that Luffy had been knocked away from the area and I clenched my hand over the repaired haramaki. I knew that Shushu was going to try and defend his treasure, even if he was just a small dog, he was willing to fight a lion for what was precious to him, "...Why am I just sitting around here then?" I stood up, still holding onto the haramaki, "Damn it, I'm going to be doing something stupid...but I rather it be because I'm trying to help instead of being a chicken about getting hurt."

I looked down at the green material in my hand before looking over to Zoro, blinking but then slowly smiling, "Ah, I see..." I mumbled, carefully putting the haramaki over him and unbuttoning my vest, "I'm sorry, Zoro..." I then undid the buttons at the cuffs of the blouse as I rolled up my sleeves, "But it looks like, when this is over..." I went to my bag and pulled out the Marine's cap, placing it backwards on my head, "I might be the stubborn one..."

It was time to play ball.

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I found a decent sized rock, about the size of a softball, and got into my stance. I had to wait for the right moment or I would miss my target and things would get sour.

All throughout my schooling years, I loved to play baseball. I was pretty good at it thanks to all the hard work I put in to improve my speed and accuracy, though there had been plenty of people who were much better than me. I wasn't all-star material, but I was to be reckoned with as my throwing speeds were what made my impressive. Having also done knife-throwing, I also learned that a good pitch needed the right accuracy and speed so that it could land where you wanted it to which should be the back-catcher's mitt.

Right now, Richie's head was the mitt.

Even if Mohji was the one who was giving the commands, it was Richie who would be attacking. If Mohji gave the order to attack, even if I knock him off, Richie would still follow through with the command.

I narrowed my eyes, wound up the pitch, and threw just as Richie was about to attack Shushu. The result was beautiful, the rock hitting the lion's head and made him tumble backwards and away from Shushu. The lion growled, shaking his head to probably get the ringing out of his ears, "What? Who threw that rock at my Richie?!" Mohji growled, eyes darting about. I had quickly snatched up another rock and did the same thing, except this time to Mohji's head. The guy fell right off Richie and landed flat on his back, "I will kill whoever is doing that!"

"Then why don't you get off your ass and do it instead of bitching about it." I had another rock in hand as I tossed it up and down, my eyes glaring at the beast trainer as the man stood up and glared right back at me.

"Ah, so it's you who did this." His forehead dripped with blood and he smiled menacingly, "You must be part of that brat's group, none of those townspeople would be stupid enough to strike down one of Buggy's men." He finally got back onto his feet and crossed his arms over his chest, "I think you might now where Roronoa Zoro is then..."

I tensed, gripping the rock tightly in my hand, "You aren't getting your paws on him cause I ain't spilling." I growled at him and he laughed at me, like I had said something funny.

"You think you have a choice, little girl? You're going to tell me where he is or I'll have to hurt you." he spoke to me as if I was a child and my brow twitched. I couldn't let myself get angry or cocky in a fight like I had with Helmeppo or this time, I would be killed. I slid into my stance again, "Oh? You're gonna throw a rock at me again? You won't-" I didn't wait for him to finish as I threw a curve ball to hit Richie's face. The lion roared and walked right into Mohji and made the man fall over again, "That's it! Richie, sick her!"

My eyes looked around for something I could use as a stick and quickly spotted the torn up cage but it was right behind the lion. I knew I couldn't dodge fast enough to escape its claws but if I timed it right, I knew I could suddenly get close enough where it would need to go on it's hind legs to swipe at me which would give me an opening. I charged straight forward, ducking under its claw and rolling towards the cage. I had felt its claws scrape into my back and I hissed, both in pain and annoyance. I snatched up one of the metal bars and turned around. I didn't have enough time to go into my stance and its paw smacked my hard in my shoulder. I hit the ground but thankfully it seemed that he was underestimating me as his hits weren't as strong as I thought they were. I rotated my shoulders to see if they were ok and besides some muscle soreness, they were in working condition. I panted slightly as I had been holding my breath the whole time I had been dodging, I was scared after all.

Mohji grinned and I glared at him, "You already seem winded, what a weakling!" He said, laughing, "You're lucky I'm being nice enough to not use my full power or that first swipe would have been the only strike I would have needed to kill you."

"Yeah, I'll remember to give you a thank you card."

"Don't get sarcastic with me!" Richie pounced again but this time, I was ready. I got into my stance (_shoulders back, feet apart, elbows out_) and closed my eyes. If I missed, I would be a goner. I put all my strength into the swing and it collided with Richie's paw as it came down to strike me. Science decided to come into play and the force from the opposing object made both Richie and I tumble over. Richie ended up landing right on top of Mohji while I spun and fell over, feeling as if my left wrist had shattered. I was no where near as strong as those two so when my "bat" had connected, it vibrated violently down to my hand and twisted it the wrong way. Luckily, I had let go with my right and my left wrist only seemed to be sprained, "Richie, get off me!" I got up, careful not to use my left hand, and went over to Mohji before pointing the bar of metal at him.

We stared at each other for a moment, mainly me trying to get my breath back, "You...kinda suck..." I said and his face turned red before glaring at me.

"Look at you, we're doing better off than you. While we barely have a scratch, you're already bloody and broken."

I shrugged, wincing slightly at my sore shoulders, "I know, you guys suck but you're definitely stronger than me."

"Then why fight at all?" I glanced over to Shushu who was growling at the two of them.

"See that dog over there?" I nodded my head over to Shushu and Mohji looked over too, "That dog was going to fight your huge ass lion, even though he's a good 4 times smaller. It doesn't matter if someone knows they are going to lose a fight, it matters if they try."

"Then I guess you won't feel like a sore loser." I looked back at him, confused as to what he meant, when my eyes widen at the sight of Richie swiping its paw at me again. Caught completely off guard, I was sent flying and hit something that felt like stone. I didn't even see if Richie and Mohji simply left or not as I slowly started to fade into darkness.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>We take the fight to the circus!

**F.R.F.  
><strong>**Maillet**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and _NO PAIRINGS_

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro. Don't worry, the others will show up soon after Orange town!

To **Pizzafan123**, you're simply the best! I wish you luck on your own stories in the future!

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_See that which burns,  
><em>_So bright it shines,  
><em>_When times are darkest,  
>And deep in eyes<em>

_That's hope, my friends_

**Chapter 12: Honor Made and Bound Promises**

"Come on, wake up already!" I heard a frantic voice shouting at me as someone roughly shook my shoulder. I furrowed my brows together as my head pounded, trying to think of who it was. It definitely wasn't Nami as it was a male voice but it wasn't Zoro since it wasn't that deep, was it Luffy then? It didn't really sound like Luffy either. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked a few times against the harsh sunlight. It was Mayor Boodle, all his winkled lines dark with worry, "Geez, kid. Don't scare me like that..."

"S-Sorry..." I groaned, slowly sitting up and wincing. The fight from earlier left me bruised and a bit bloody but at least alive. Everything was a bit foggy but one thing was clear in my mind, "Is Shushu ok?" I asked, closing my eyes to wait until the dizziness passed away.

"Shushu is fine but the shop is..." He trailed off, sounding a bit sad. My heart jumped uncomfortably in my chest and I quickly looked to the shop, expecting the worse. I had thought that all my stalling had been for nothing, that I just ended up hurting myself for nothing to have changed but I was wrong. The shop was a mess, that was true, but it wasn't burnt down like I had expected. The windows were smashed, the floors busted, even the roof was ruined but it still stood there. I had some hope that they could fix the place up so that Shushu didn't completely lose his dreams, I realized that I stalled long enough to just barely save his treasure.

But what about Luffy? The whole reason he got so angry was because the building was destroyed by the fire but with it still standing, did Luffy get angry still?

"Where's Luffy...?" I mumbled, standing up but a bit unsteady on my feet. I kept trying to touch the back of my head to check for a concussion but Boodle kept slapping away my hands, "I need to find Luffy."

"I don't know where the kid is but you shouldn't be moving around. Geez, just look at your back and what happened to your wrist?" I looked down at my left wrist and frowned. It had swollen up to a purple/blue color and throbbed painfully. It felt like the time I sprained my ankle except it was at my wrist, "Here, let me deal with it."

I held out my wrist as Boodle gathered a few things to make a temporary brace before I glanced around, looking for Nami or Luffy. I spotted the ginger not too far off though her mood seemed to be cloudy at best, she wasn't looking at me and seemed a bit tense. After getting the brace on my hand, he made a sling and I nestled my injured wrist into the rough fabrics, "How does my back look?" The headache was fading, thankfully, and I didn't feel any blood on my head.

"Its not bleeding so much, which is good, but it might scar over if you don't take care of it." Great, just what I needed, more scars. At least this one would be from a fight and not from cooking, fighting scars were so much cooler anyways.

"Oh, Mr. Pirate! So you're still alive!" I turned to see Luffy who blinked a bit confused at Nami, in his hand was a box of what I knew was the dog food, "I thought you would have finally be finished off my that lion..."

"Nami..." I warned though I didn't think I had the energy to do anything if she made a move.

"Before you get the rest of your pirate pals over to raid this village," She ignored me as she went to charge at Luffy only to be held back by Mayor Boodle, "Why don't you just go to hell!"

Luffy frowned at Nami, a little unimpressed, "You think that you can hurt me?" He said before sticking out his tongue which made Nami freak, trying to get out of Boodle's grip so that she could get to Luffy as he calmly walked over to Shushu and I. Gently, he placed the box of food down in front of the dog and sat down beside him with me standing behind the two. No one said anything for a moment before Luffy spoke again, "That was the only one I could bring back!" Luffy smiled happily, "The rest was eaten if you could believe me!"

I felt myself sag a little, hoping that I had stopped Richie from eating all the food but it seemed I wasn't able to do that. All the food was gone except for that last box, the shop was just the box where the real treasure was. "It was an admirable fight! You guys fought well!" I frowned, confused. I didn't really accomplish anything and got injured too, how did I do good?

"Luffy..." The guy had too much confidence sometimes. Shushu grabbed the box of food with him mouth and started to go but stopped beside me and I blinked, confused. He settled the box down and I knelt down, reaching out my hand which he licked, "Your welcome, Shushu. I'm sorry if I couldn't do much..."

Shushu barked at me before turning to Luffy and barking at him. My rubbery captain merely laughed and told him to be strong too before Shushu finally left. It was a rather touching moment as the two who I had been trying to help and felt as though I failed them...they believed I did well. It felt good, to know I didn't screw things up like I've had previous times since coming here, and I smiled.

"Amber, you did a great job. I knew you were strong!" Luffy told me as he stood back up from the ground and brushed the dirt off his pants, "I'm sorry you got hurt though."

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly and chuckled, "Maa, its ok. I've injured my hands plenty of times before so I'll be fine. Besides, you don't get strong if you don't experience some pain, right?"

After Nami apologized and Luffy forgave her, Boodle decided that enough was enough. He didn't want to sit by any longer and watch the rest of us fight a battle that he was suppose to be fighting. Nami and I were trying to get the mayor calmed down as we understood it was foolish for him to try and fight Buggy but Luffy only made things worse when he down right agreed with the man.

But he told us of the hardship and struggle that he and the rest of the townspeople put into building up this town from the very ground up, how they built every building in the town with their own hands, that the whole of Orange Town was his treasure. I felt suddenly this conversation being one that I had with Zoro about getting hurt and making people worry. I knew that the Mayor could get hurt but was I any better to tell him not to when I had fought and got hurt myself?

I didn't get a chance to say anything though as a familiar cannon shot rang through the air, dangerously close to us, and building after building collapsed in the dirt. The shock wave sent up flying back and I had to twist around to make sure I didn't land on my wrist. As soon as I landed, I tried to quickly scramble up as I felt panic set in.

"Even my house!"

"Zoro was sleeping in there!"

"Zoro!" I ran over to where the ruined house was, trying to clear away ruble to look for the swordsman.

"Is he dead? The kid with the waist band?"

"Hey Zoro, you still alive?"

"Of course he is, you idiots!" I turned to snap at them but heard movement and turned back to see a groggy green-haired man rise from the splintered wood, "Zoro, you're ok!"

Zoro rubbed his forehead and groaned, "Yeah...that was some bad way to wake me up..." I sighed in relief that the worse injury he had gotten from that was a bruised forehead and he glanced over to me. His eyes widen for a fraction before almost glaring at me, "What happened to you?"

Before I could answer, Boodle cried out in near agony that he hadn't done a single thing yet to protect his village before proclaiming he was going to deal with Buggy once and for all. Of course, Nami tried to stop him as the rest of us watched. I wasn't too sure what Zoro and Luffy were thinking at the time but I felt as if they man should go if he felt he needed to do this. I frowned, seeing the tears of pent up anger and frustration stain his eyes. We watched him run towards Buggy's base with more determination that he seemed to handle.

Luffy and Zoro chuckled, I raised a brow at them, "I don't see whats so funny, guys..."

"For some reason, this is starting to feel more fun." Zoro grinned, still sitting on the ground.

"I agree!" I felt my eye twitch and so I walked up behind the two (thankfully they had been standing close enough to each o ther) and slapped them on the heads with my good hand.

"Don't just stand here amused by it then!"

"_That's_ what you're getting mad about?!" Nami flipped.

"Don't worry, I like that old man!" I turned to look at Luffy who was grinning at the three of us, "I'm not going to let him die!" It was like he was not only promising us who worried about the old man, but also to himself.

_"Luffy is the kind of person to keep his promise..."_

And so I knew everything was going to be alright.

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After Nami and Luffy formed a 'temporary alliance', we were set and ready to go. Nami had expressed concern over both Zoro's and my injuries but Zoro merely shrugged his off, saying he was find. I, on the other hand (_oh the __irony..._), said I didn't expect to get involved in the fight. I had seriously injured my hand in the last fight so I knew I couldn't do much when we got to where we were going. I needed both my hands for pitching and batting though I could still do knife throwing...if I actually had throwing knives. The only knife currently in my possession was the chef knife but if I lost that knife, I would be short on essential tools. Not only that but it would have felt wrong to use something that was suppose to help create for destructive purposes.

We had arrived just in time to see the mayor being held by the throat and the cannon pointed at him, Luffy wasted no time in jumping in and saving the mayor. Boodle expressed no gratitude for saving his life and instead, told us we had to leave. Luffy then smashed the Boodle's face right _into a fucking wall_!

It looked a lot more painful in person, one of the guy's teeth popped out and being a dental assistant myself, I felt my insides churn. I had to stop my mind from going over the details I had learned in dentistry to figure out how to get his teeth back in (_metal bar, screws, fake teeth) _to pay attention to what was going on.

"Hey, you huge, red, ugly, big nose!" Luffy bellowed out to Buggy and it left everyone shocked.

_What?_

"What?" I deadpanned, wondering once again if I should have really agreed to follow Luffy.

"FIRE THE SPECIAL BUGGY CANNON BALL! FIRE!" Buggy ordered, beyond furious, as his crew scrambled to get the cannon ready. Nami and Zoro freaked, knowing the destructive power those cannonballs had. I, on the other hand, saw Luffy had a plan in mind and that I should get out of the way...quickly. I grabbed the back of Zoro's shirt (who was trying to get Luffy to move) as the cannon fired, pulling him out of harms way.

"Amber! What are you-"

"Shut up and move!" I growled as Luffy sucked in a huge amount of air and swelled up into a balloon faster then I expected.

"Gomu Gomu no Balloon!"

The cannonball hit dead center in Luffy's swelled stomach and shot right back to Buggy's base. Zoro grumbled, he didn't like having been told nothing but I sighed in relief. Man, was I ever getting stressed out lately.

"Yay, their numbers had decreased! Shall we start?" Luffy grinned, holding a hand to his hat.

"What the hell are you?!" Ah yes, we forgot to tell Nami about Luffy's rubberiness...I'll have to explain it to her later.

"So much for blowing us..."

"Zoro...care to rethink what you said there?" I said sounding _oh-so-amused_. It just sounded...to wrong to me. Then again, I tend to think of perverted things often...but it wasn't my fault people gave me such good material to work with!

"Stop saying weird shit right now!"

"Then stop saying perverted things..."

"I never said-"

"Guys, stop arguing for a moment! Can someone _please_ explain to me how the hell he just swelled up like a balloon!" Nami hissed, smacking both of us over the head.

"He ate a devil fruit, obviously!" I growled back only to get hit on the head again, "Damn it, Nami! Stop hitting your elders!"

"You're not _that_ old!"

Suddenly, we heard a laugh and ruble from the now ruined base started to move. Two bodies and Richie the lion were lifted up but out cold, "You're chattering around, making a lotta noise like you're not scared..."

"Their...using their crew as shields!" Nami gasped and I just glowered at Cabaji and Buggy emerging from the smoking ruins.

"This is the biggest humiliation we've ever received under our flag, captain!"

"I'm so mad, words fail me..."

From behind them, Mohji started to come around and I tensed. It was one thing to have just Buggy and Cabaji survive as Zoro and Luffy would be just enough to deal with them but with Mohji thrown in too, as weak as he was, it was going to be trouble. Mohji freaked when he saw Luffy, saying he was the kid who defeated him and he had devil fruit powers. I rolled my eyes, did this guy serious believe that his captain was the only devil fruit power out there or something?

Then he pointed to me, "And that's the girl who attacked us at the pet store!"

I blinked, a little dumbfounded, "Oh so I am an honorable mention?"

"Mohji...I don't care about that..." Buggy mumbled, I could see he was very pissed off, "Why the heck didn't you tell me he had devil fruit powers earlier?!" Mohji was sent flying towards us.

Zoro gripped the hilt of one of his swords as Nami looked ready to run but Luffy stepped up and got into a solid stance, grinning.

"Nami, move to the left, quickly!" Nami almost jumped and ran to the left but gave me a questioning glance, "BATTER UP!" Luffy swung his leg up and it collided with the side of Mohji's face, sending the man right into the dirt were Nami had previously been, "Home-run!"

"Thanks, Amber!" Nami said as she looked at where she use to be and back to me with a grin. Her face suddenly contorted into fear and I frowned before realizing that we were in the middle of a fight and I should be paying attention to it, "Look out!" I spun to see Cabaji coming straight towards me, an evil glint in his eyes. The guy was moving so fast that I didn't have time to dodge so I covered my face with his good arm and expected to feel the blade of his sword run through except I didn't. Instead, I heard the clashing of steel against steel and I looked to see Zoro standing right in front of me, drawing out another sword.

"If it's swords, I'm all in."

"It's an honor, Roronoa Zoro. As a swordsman, I get to slay you..."

Zoro glared from over his sword at Cabaji before looking over to me, "Amber, get out of here. You can't fight with that arm."

I looked down at my left wrist before looking over to his left side, my eyes widening at the sight of fresh blood seeping through, "Zoro, you opened up your wound! You can't be a hypocrite and tell me I can't fight when you can't either!"

Luffy also glanced to the wound and grimaced, "Look Zoro, I think its better if I do this. You go take a rest." Unfortunately, Zoro got distracted, turning his head to reply to Luffy before Cabaji blew fire in his face. Zoro stumbled backwards, bringing up his left arm to cover his face (as it had been his right arm that was blocking the sword) as Cabaji quickly cycled up over to Zoro and swung his foot at Zoro's unprotected left side. The point of his shoe dove into the wound, making it bleed even worse.

Zoro dropped to the ground, withering slightly in pain and I felt my anger flare, "You fucking shitting jackass!" I was beginning to look around for a decent sized rock to throw at the guy. The acrobat then stuck the tip of his sword into the ground before spinning it so fast, he created a thick cloud of dust. I coughed, it was hard to actually see through it which surprised me a little. I heard the sounds of swords clashing again and a cry of pain, it sent a chill down my spine, "Zoro!" I saw him fly out of the dust cloud and lay on the ground, his wound almost 10 times worse than what it was at the start of the battle. Cabaji mocked and ridiculed the swordsman as Zoro struggled to get up, I grounded my teeth in anger, "You have no right to call yourself a swordsman!" I called out, my fist clenched at my side.

Cabaji turned to regard me coldly, "Oh? And what do you even know about swordsmanship, little girl?"

"I know that no true swordsman would resort to such cheap tricks in a fight!" I saw Cabaji's eye twitch before glaring at me, "Honor is the number one thing in Bushido, a swordsman would fight with honor, even against his enemy. If he were to lose his honor...he would kill himself."

"You think you can threaten me, girl?" Growled the man on a unicycle, "After I kill Roronoa, I'll kill you!" He turned back to Zoro, charging at him with his sword ready and raised, "Go to the next world!"

With one solid strike with his sword, Zoro sent Cabaji flying off his bike and face-planting into the ground with ease, "What an annoying guy. You find tearing up my wound that much fun?" I grinned at Zoro, glad to see him up and...well, angry. He was dangerous when mad, that was for sure. He was shaky on his feet and I could see he was trying to ignore the pain but I frowned as he raised his sword to his own wound and before I could say anything, Zoro sliced into it and made it...so much more worse.

Cabaji freaked out, turning pale at either the sheer stupidity of what Zoro did or out of fear.

Nami gasped, covering her mouth and her eyes went wide.

Luffy grimaced, not expecting his swordsman to do such a thing.

Buggy and I deadpanned, me for already knowing he was going to do that but still finding it incredibly stupid and Buggy...well he's probably been a lot of weird shit already in his life.

Zoro let out a breath and began to place Wado's hilt in his mouth, "My goal is the to become the world's greatest swordsman..." Zoro said before looking at a paled Cabaji, "Is my condition satisfying enough for you? Lemme teach you the difference in level between us..."

Luffy freaked out at how cool Zoro was being but I rubbed my forehead, thinking about all the damage he had caused himself in the short amount of time he had been fighting. I knew better than to get involved in their fight though and not because I was weaker than them, this was a fight between swordsmen.

It was honor bound.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>The battle between Zoro and Cabaji continues! What will Amber do?

**Whoot! This story has now reached 200 views! Thank you all my fellow fanficers for reading this story, hope you enjoy the rest to come!**

**F.R.F.  
><strong>**Maillet**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and _NO PAIRINGS_

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro. Don't worry, the others will show up soon after Orange town!

Thank you **Caigdimo** for adding this story to your favorites!

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_Spring is ever silent,  
><em>_As Autumn's still not awake,  
><em>_And Winter left in a hurry,  
><em>_So Summer comes to play!_

**Chapter 13: Swordsmanship **

It almost felt like a western shoot out, Zoro and Cabaji standing right across from each other with their weapons ready, Zoro's dripping with his own blood. Buggy stood behind Cabaji, arms folded and looking amused at the battle so far. Luffy and Nami were to Zoro's left, watching silently and expectantly while I stood to his right, worried and agitated. I couldn't keep my eyes at the bloody wound, I gnawed on my lip nervously and my hands itched to make it better. I knew he remembered what I had talked about earlier about getting himself hurt and letting no one help, his eyes had glanced back over to me briefly before settling back to Cabaji. I knew why he didn't want anyone to help him though, before I had said anything to him back at the Mayor's house, but I understood it a lot better after fighting Mohji. He didn't want us to worry because he felt it was his job to keep us safe, he didn't want to seem weak in our eyes.

Nami and Luffy, even though just around 2 years younger than him, were still very young and had so much more ahead for them.

Myself, being 2 years older than him but not from around One Piece, I was naive to so many things.

"To anyone that calls himself a swordsman, I won't allow myself to lose even once to him!" Zoro claimed, narrowing his eyes at the acrobat who stood there, amused.

"Oh, you got strong determination there...but don't worry, fighting me with such a serious injury, you can use that as an excuse when I defeat you." Damn, he was a cocky bastard.

"Non-sense! With this sort of injury, if I lose to the likes of you, my future carries an obvious fate..."

I frowned, wondering slightly what he meant by that statement. I looked over to Nami and Luffy to see the ginger-haired thief sneak away to steal Buggy's treasure. I felt like I should go with her so that I wasn't just standing around but I didn't want to leave Zoro's fight just yet or leave and miss Luffy's. Even if Nami was part of the crew, it wasn't official just yet while Luffy and Zoro were, I had to stick by my crew.

"Have a taste of my best trick yet!" Cabaji said, charging at Zoro with...spinning tops. This guy, I felt, was worse than Mohji since at least Richie was powerful. The spinning tops of doom were very unimpressive in real life, even if it was slightly cool that they were spinning really fast on his arms. I wished slightly I could remember what happens in One Piece better than what I remembered at the moment. even though I had seen their fights and what not before, it was when I was much younger. I had stopped watching and reading One Piece when I started collage since I had been so busy with school.

I watched as Zoro got ready to defend himself against the tops since he didn't know if they did anything. I glanced over to Cabaji as he suddenly went up a nearby wall and sailed into the air, almost hovering right over Zoro. My eyes widened, realizing that the tops had been a distraction the whole time, "Zoro, move!" I called out but then remembered Buggy. I looked over and sure enough, he was aiming his hand to grab hold of Zoro to keep him in place. As much as I didn't want to admit it, it was impressive team-work but since I didn't want Zoro to die, I squashed that feeling down. Quickly, I picked up a rock and prayed that what I was going to do worked.

I focused on where Buggy's hand was going to land and wound up my pitch. It was awkward since I couldn't use my left hand but I simply imagined it there, how my right arm was suppose to feel if my left was there, where my left fingers would be pointing. The gloved hand shot out and grabbed hold of Zoro, that was when I threw the rock with all I had. I knew Luffy was going to stomp down on it when it made it halfway and if these two (_pardon the pun_) clowns were going to team up against Zoro, then I was going to team up with Luffy against them. The rock hit it's target, crushing Buggy's fingers into the ground.

While the Bara Bara fruit allowed Buggy to be immune to cutting attacks, he wasn't resistant to any blunt attacks which meant unlike Luffy's rubbery body, blunt force attacks would do damage to his bones and tissues in his unguarded hand. Buggy howled in pain, clutching his wrist as he struggled to get his hand out from under Luffy's foot.

"Don't interfere with Zoro's fight!" Luffy and I said together, Luffy looking like he was ready to attack Buggy and myself with another rock in hand.

"You assholes!"

"Even without the captain's help, finishing you off will be a piece of cake!" Cabaji came crashing down but Zoro moved just in time, sliding on the ground on his injured side but thankfully had propped himself up on his elbow. Cabaji growled, looking over his shoulder to Zoro who struggled to stand, panting and shaking.

I had to resist all urge to run over and help him up, he wouldn't want me to interfere. This was a swordsman's fight, it was for honor or at least on Zoro's part, it was.

"Stop now...I'm tired..." Zoro mumbled as he knelt on the ground, trying to regain his breath. He looked a little paler already and a large section of his left side was covered in-

I stopped and blinked, realizing that he got the clothes that I had washed and repaired all bloody and torn again. I really shouldn't have been noticing something like that _now_ but I felt slightly annoyed that it dawned on me so much later. It was nearly as bad a the Helmeppo's room incident!

Cabaji laughed, raking a hand through the longer side of his hair, "You're tired? Hahaha! Are you getting anemia? You've finally given up!" Cabaji moved a little closer to Zoro, thinking that the green-haired swordsman was now too weak to do anything else, "Suppose it was obvious...I mean, its a substantial effort you make just to stand."

Suddenly, Zoro stood up much faster than I would ever expect an injured man to do and kicked Cabaji right off his unicycle. "I meant I'm tired of being the opponent of someone with such pitiful skills..."

I had stars and hearts in my eyes, I felt my fangirling coming out, "That was simply amazing, Zoro! You're so cool~!" Of course, he ignored me but I didn't mind this time as it allowed me to continue with my pent up fanning. Cabaji tsked at both Zoro and myself, standing up and charging right at Zoro. I smirked, knowing what was to come next.

"Then let me finish you off now with my real sword skills!"

Zoro crouched, swords in each hand and Wado in his mouth, he crossed his arms and lowered his head. I couldn't believe I was going to see _Oni Giri_ in person. Zoro lurched forward, quickly uncrossing his arms and moving his head to the right so that all three blades sliced into Cabaji. It was bloody, yes, but so cool, "Oni Giri!" I cheered, shooting my good hand in the air but winced when I jostled my injured one. There was such a good feeling seeing this fight over that I hadn't expected, it was so much more different seeing it all in person. Even though I knew that Zoro would win the fight, I had still felt the worry of him losing gnaw at my chest but finally seeing Cabaji defeated, a refreshing wave of relief washed over me like a cold wave on a hot day.

Zoro toppled over onto the ground, landing on his front and I quickly went over to him, "That was...very cool, Zoro." I grinned though not really sure what to say. I crouched down next to him before looking over to Luffy, "You don't mind if Zoro takes a little nap, right, Captain?"

Luffy grinned, grabbing onto his bicep and flexing his arm as he turned his attention to Buggy, "Yeah, you sleep, Zoro. I'll finish this off."

Zoro groaned and I looked back over to him, raising a brow, "That's what you get for making your injury worse. You were totally cool and damn well hot with everything but damn it, cutting open your down wound was down right stupid..." I told him off without much heat. I didn't think he realized half of what I said as he didn't even react to the _damn well hot_ part of my speech.

"Was trying...to make a statement..." He moved his head towards me and looked at my arm, frowning again. I knew what he was thinking, what he wanted to ask, so I patted him on the head.

"It's ok, I'm fine. Let's just get out of Luffy's way cause I'm pretty sure this was gonna be one hell of a fight." I looked over to Luffy who was standing right in front of us and blocking Buggy from attacking us, "Think you have enough strength to stand up?" He only grunted as he tried to push himself up, I managed to slip myself under him to help him stand, "Easy now..." We slowly made our way to an alley way before helping him lean against the wall. I could hear Buggy freaking out at Luffy and knew he was about to tell about Shanks soon. I sighed but smiled, "Man, what a day..."

"Tell me...about it..." The adrenaline rush he had from the fight earlier was wearing off, the pain was clearly evident on his face but he seemed so tired as well, "Think I'm...I'm gonna sleep..."

"I'll see what I can fix for now but my packs over in the ruined Mayor's house. Hopefully it survived that blast." My hand hovering awkwardly over his the wound, "Ummm...I don't think you want me to undress you..." I felt my face flush at the thought but stupidly grinned at the thought of that gorgeous pecs and handsome abs, "Of course, I wouldn't have-"

I didn't even get to finish my sentence as he abruptly sat up off the wall and all but ripped his shirt and haramaki off, "Stop being a pervert, Ero-tooth!"

I laughed hard but slapped a hand over my mouth, "Y-You are the o-one who..." I needed to stop laughing if I wanted to finish my sentence so I calmed down enough to giggle, "You're the one who ripped off his shirt~"

Zoro flushed red and glared at me, "Damn it, woman! If you're going to be weird on me then go away so I can sleep!"

I grinned at him, "Alright, alright. I'm sorry, ok?" I waved my good hand in a dismissive manner, "Let me just check the wound so that I can treat it better once I get my bag. You mind if I use your shirt?" Zoro said nothing which I took as a yes, I carefully cleaned the wound as best as I could without hurting him even more. The injury had indeed gotten a lot worse from the fight and not just from Zoro cutting it. The stitches had either snapped or pulled at the flesh, there was a large bruise forming around the wound which might of been from those times Cabaji kicked him. It looked even more nasty as the original wound had been a stab wound _through_ his left side going from the back and to the front, but when Zoro sliced into the connecting skin, muscles, and tissues from the wound all the way to the left...

I grimaced and I saw him flinch slightly, "That bad?"

"No...worse. It's a good 5cm deep from the opening. Not only that but it's kinda T-shaped. You're very lucky that you keep your swords sharp of this would be a lot worse. I don't think it will scar much though." I rubbed my chin with my good wrist as I had blood all over my fingers, "This needs to get stitched up right now. I can fix your shirt and haramaki when we get back on the ship. Not to mention that I should get my bag before the townspeople show up cause they'll more than likely be looking for Boodle and after what Luffy did..." This was my only chance to grab my bag. Not only did it have the medical supplies but my spare clothes and money too. I pressed the bloody shirt to the wound and he hissed, "Sorry, just keep pressure on that for now until I get back, kay?" I was about to stand up when I felt a hand grab hold of my upper left arm, I turned and blinked at Zoro who looked close to passing out, "Yeah?"

"Just...hurry back...and be careful..." He mumbled and I smiled at him reassuringly. I stood up and looked out of the alley, Buggy having already thrown his Bara Bara Windmill. I stepped out of the alley and bolted down the street as I tried to remember where the ruined house was.

**.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.**

I was missing a lot of action, I knew that for sure, but I wasn't going to just stand around and watch while one of my crew-mates were injured.

It was around mid-day and the winds were picking again. I followed the main road down before turning right at some point. Luckily for me, I had turned at the right street and I soon found myself back at the pet food store. I stopped for a moment and looked at the ruined grounds, the broken building that housed memories I couldn't even begin to imagine. I still felt bad that I wasn't able to help much and that Shushu still had his treasure stolen from him. I had gotten myself hurt for nothing. I knew I shouldn't try to change things since this wasn't a dream. Everything I've felt was so real, especially the pain.

I looked down at my wrist again and frowned, "Am I just an annoyance to everyone?" I didn't want to think that, I wanted to think I was of some help...but nothing was different. Zoro was still hurt, Shushu still had his treasure taken, Nami still wasn't the navigator.

_Ugh! You're so useless!_

Were my brothers right all along?

No, there was no time for that. I had to get back to them but I needed my bag first. I went over to where Boodle's house use to be, it was still smoking with bits of burnt wood. It was a little difficult to dig through the ruble, "Damn it, it's just gotta be in here somewhere?" I mumbled, frowning slightly, "Ugh, stupid hand getting injured..." I paused mid-grumble and stopped the familiar light blue color of my bag and I beamed. It seemed my luck wasn't all that bad. It was stuck under a large piece of wood and I pulled with all the might someone could pull with one hand. It was stuck for a while but I managed to pull it free and grinned. Now to get to Zoro.

"You there!" I jumped and turned around, cursing under my breath and sharply turning around to see quite a large group of people standing behind me and boy, did they look mad, "Did you do this to our mayor's house?"

"Yeah cause a one armed girl can totally ruin a house like this..." I said sarcastically before swinging my bag over my shoulder, "Look I have to get back to my crew so-"

"Crew? You mean you're a pirate?"

I blinked, realizing what I had just said and cursed. I had been hoping that they would just pass it off that I was a sailor (or even a Marine since I was wearing the cap...backwards, but still). Of course they heard me quite clearly cursing and hell started to break loose, "She's a pirate!"

"Maybe she's from Buggy's crew?"

"She's stealing from the Mayor's house!"

"Just because we left to take cover, doesn't mean she has any right to do this!"

"H-Hang on j-just a minute, I-" This was starting to get nuts and I slowly backed away as their angry murmurs grow larger and larger. Damn it, Luffy was suppose to be the one who pissed them off! These guys weren't even letting me explain myself! I knew I couldn't get myself out of this situation by talking and definitely not by fighting so it left me with only one option left.

"Hey she's running away!"

"GET HER!"

"Why do I have such shitty luck!?" I cried out as I ran for my life.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>Next stop, that weird place with the animals!

**This was the end of Orange Town arc, hoped you enjoyed!**

**F.R.F.  
><strong>**Maillet**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _One Piece_ but I do own all my OC's (currently just being Amber)

**Warnings: **The following story will contain violence, mature/immature humor, swearing, and _NO PAIRINGS_

**Summary: **Family is everything. Without family, you have nothing. No one to love nor care about you. Three siblings will come to understand that as they struggle through the world of One Piece after making their New Year's resolution. Will they be able to achieve their desires or even find a way back home?

**Notes: **This story is actually dedicated to two very special people in my life, the same people who's Amber's brothers are based off of. This story is for them and although they might not read it (or at least one of them), I hope they will enjoy this adventure as much as I enjoyed our own little journeys growing up. To my two (not-so-little-anymore) brothers, Zach and Morgan.

The story will be mainly in Amber's POV and takes place (in the One Piece world) one week before Luffy meets Zoro.

Thank you **Kakashichan08** for adding this to your favorites!

* * *

><p><strong>THE RESOLUTION<strong>

_When the sun rises,  
>The moon sleeps,<br>But the stars left before  
>The skies had turned gray.<em>

_So who's really alone?_

**Chapter 14: Promised Apology**

The night air was chilly as I laid on my back on the floor and stared at the stars, I could hear the soft mumbled of food from my captain and the thunderous snores of the first mate. I chuckled lightly, feeling the nostalgia warm me over. The dinky boat of Luffy's rocked gently in the water, Nami's stolen boat tied to ours. Our newly gained navigator offered to share the bedroom in the boat with me as she didn't think I would like sleeping with the guys on their boat but I declined, saying that they reminded me of my brothers when I had to share a room with them (one of them talking in their sleep while the other snored). Nami was even nice enough to fix on a proper bandage on my wrist (since it was just a sprain and not broken, it didn't need the brace)...without charging me (thank God). The marks on my back were also cleaned up but left not bandaged as they were more just scratches. Nami had freaked when Luffy left had of her stolen gold with the islanders resulting in her trying to drown him but was still nice enough to fix his hat for him.

When I had arrived back at Buggy's base, Luffy was cheering with victory and Zoro was fast asleep. I had managed to lose the angry mob that had been following me from before but I knew they were close behind. I told them we had to leave right away but they only questioned me, confused, and before I could explain, the mob found me again. Of course, they were over joyed that Buggy was defeated and they were freed, but they were...less impressed that Luffy injured their mayor. We ran to the docks (being saved by Shushu, of course) and managed to make it there in _one piece_ (ah the puns). We ran into the three men Nami had stolen from and I had realized that those were the same three guys that I had ran into earlier. Of course, Zoro managed to scare them off with a single look to which I fangirled over (resulting in Nami conking me on the head) and we were off. I cleaned and stitched Zoro's injury, it was much harder with one hand, before bandaging it up and handing him a fresh shirt (as the one he had been wearing was ruined with blood).

It had been hours since we left Orange Town and I suddenly frowned, "I should keep track how long I've been here..." I had been in Shells Town for a week, at sea for 3 days, and Orange Town for 1 day...so it has been 11 days since I fell into One Piece. 11 days without my family...

I sighed heavily, deeply missing my two special idiots. With everything that had been going on, I've hadn't had much time to actually think about them. Yet when the times were like as they were now, when my mind could drift into my memories, I could stop and think if they were alright. I felt as if a piece of my heart had been torn out and stomped on, it nearly ached to beat. I left them with the idea that I _hated_ them when, in fact, I loved them more than life itself. I would do anything for them, even if they did piss me off a lot. I felt my throat tighten and I tried not to cry as I laid on my back, watching such different stars twinkle in the sky. I couldn't let myself cry, I had to be strong to survive long enough to know what happened. I had to have some kind of closure or this mystery would tear me apart.

_I wish I could have told you both...how sorry I am..._

But this pain, this horrible and hollowing pain, was on a whole new level for me. I've had friends move away, pets die, family injured, but I always knew where they were or how they were doing. This, where I had no clue what was going on, was both terrifying and painful.

A groan from behind me told me that my rubbery bastard of a captain was waking up and I turned my head to see Luffy yawning and stretching, rubbing the sleep out of his left eye with a fist, "Stop rubbing your eye so hard, you're gonna poke it out." I said automatically as I would have chided my brothers for doing as well, they always had a bad habit of poking out their eyes first thing in the morning...

He blinked and turned to look at me, "Oh, you're awake." He said, looking a little surprised and still very sleepy.

I shrugged, looking back to the stars, "Yeah, couldn't sleep." I mumbled, "Been a crazy day and all, ya know..." I heard my voice crack a bit but I laughed it off like it was no big deal, I felt like I was dying inside though. I felt ashamed of how I had treated my brothers on New Year's Eve, of what I had. I felt confused as to how and why I was in One Piece. I felt terrified of never seeing my home or family ever again. I stood up, my back to Luffy as I sighed, "You should probably get back to sleep, I'm still on watch for a few more hours..." I didn't want to be near anyone at the moment, I wanted to be by myself, but I heard a heavy sigh behind me as I went to my bag to get the blanket.

"Amber, what's wrong?" Luffy asked in a familiar confident voice that I almost cringed at because I _knew_ what would happen if I were to push him away.

"Nothing...it's just..." I knew I should talk to someone about what happened, even if they didn't believe me that I was from a different world. I cleared my throat, my hand pausing on the soft blue blanket, "Nothing, just go back to sleep."

"But you're upset and I don't like to see my friends upset." He was now standing right over me, his whole body shadowing the moonlight over me but I still didn't turn around. I felt my eyes starting to burn and my throat wanting to release a cry, "As your captain, I-"

"I said I don't wanna talk about so just leave me alone!" I snapped at him, standing up with the blanket in my hand, "It's got nothing to do with you, ok?" I know I was being rude but I didn't care, I wanted my brothers so badly that I felt so pissed off at whatever had happened. I made to go pass him, still hiding my face, but he had quickly reached out and grabbed hold of my good arm. I tried to jerk out my arm but he had an iron grip on it, "Damn it, Shitty Rubber! Lemme go!"

He stared at me with an unreadable expression and I felt my frustration grow. I wanted him to leave me alone, I didn't want to waste my words talking about my feelings since there was nothing I could do except wait and wait and wait for something, anything, to tell me what was going on. I felt my eyes starting to brim with hot tears and I cursed myself, "It's about _them_, isn't it?" I glared harshly at him, at his monotonous face, and I gritted my teeth so hard that they felt as if they were going to crack.

"Why can't you just leave me alone? I don't need your help!"

_Wait..._

"I beg to differ..."

_Please..._

"Then I don't _want_ your help!"

_I feel so..._

"Yes, you do, or you wouldn't have come along with Zoro and me."

_I feel so alone..._

I blinked away my tears, staring at him as he stared right back at me. It amazed me sometimes at how...compassionate Luffy could be and _realize_ that he was doing it too. He placed a hand on his hat and for a moment, I thought he was going to place it on my head but he simply took it off and stared at it, "I had brothers too, I know what its like to lose them. It hurts, a lot, but it must hurt even more when you don't know if they're alive or not. I don't wanna imagine how that must feel. They mean a lot to you though and you're the oldest, just like my brother Ace!" He broke out into a grin, that stupid sunny grin that left so many people question what he was actually thinking, "You actually remind me a lot about him, he was short tempered too! Haha! But I loved him a lot...and I know you're brothers love you a lot too."

I felt like I wanted to drop to the ground and whither away, I had realized the same of what Luffy had said. I knew my brothers loved me a lot and I loved them 100 times over. I couldn't help but to feel relieved though, to hear that they loved me as much as I loved them, and I smiled as tears streamed down my cheeks.

"I miss them...I feel like there's a hole in my heart and it hurts so much for it to beat. I'm worried about what happened to them because this feeling...like I _know_ that they are here but I don't know where. I feel like I'm stumbling around in the dark and...and what happens if..." I choked up again, not wanting to image my brothers being dead. Luffy pulled his lanky arm around my shoulders to pull me into a hug as I cried softly, feeling both terrible upset and unreasonably happy at the same time.

"We'll fine them so don't you worry, I promise."

And when Luffy made a promise, it was a promise that was kept. I buried my face into his neck (as he was only an inch taller then me, him being 5'7") and cried out of pain and joy. I gripped onto him tightly as it felt so damn good to finally let this feeling, the feeling I've had since coming to One Piece, finally be released. I didn't know how long he hugged me but I didn't care, I lifted my head up after a while and gave a shaky smile, "Thank you, Luffy..."

I couldn't see his face but I knew he was smiling again, "No problem, Amber! That's what nakama is for!" I chuckled slightly, straightening out and rubbing my eyes, "You can go to sleep, I'll keep watch until Zoro's turn." I nodded numbly, feeling rather tired now. I picked up my blanket and looked over to the swordsman before breaking out into a grin, "Ne, Amber? What are you thinking?"

"Not so much thinking as wondering how toasty warm our delectable moss-headed swordsman must be. As the crew's temporary doctor, I can't have my patient getting a cold, now can I?" Luffy tilted his head at what I mean and I could practically hear my brothers' calls of '_pervert_' but I didn't care, I needed comfort at the moment and Zoro was in a good position to lean against, "Luffy?" I said as I walked over to Zoro and sat by him, snuggling against him. He was so nice and warm that I felt the drowsiness start to wash over me and I could barely keep my eyes open, "Thanks again, really. You have no idea how good it was to hear that..."

My eyes slowly fell close and the last thing I heard was Luffy chuckling as he straightened out my blanket, "We're always here for you, Amber!"

_We'll never leave you, sister..._

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I woke up to the loud exclaim of, "It's fix!" by Luffy, I failed about for a moment before tumbling over and someone cursing above me as my head hit the ground.

"Damn it, Luffy!" I growled out, trying to get myself up but only flopping around as I couldn't push up from my awkward and tangled position on the floor, "When I get up, I'm gonna hit you for freaking me out!" Someone managed to get the blanket untangled from me and I looked up to Zoro, his face clearly not amused and I realized that I had fallen on his lap. He helped me sit up, surprisingly gentle about it.

He must have seen the face I was making at this because the grumpy swordsman started to scowl at me, though his hand was still between my shoulder blades as I leaned against it, trying to kick off the blanket, "Fangirl about this and I'm _dropping_ you..."

"Oh I would never dream of-" Then the bastard dropped me, "The hell? I wasn't fangirling this time!"

"You were damn well about to!" He shouted back and I glared at him as Nami and Luffy argued in the background. Zoro's stomach gave a loud growl and he groaned, holding onto his stomach, "Man, I'm hungry..." He mumbled before looking to me, almost deadpanned, and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? You expect me to make you something to eat after you dropped me for nothing?" I huffed, hugging one arm under my chest as I only had one arm to move, "Forget it! Besides, I can only move one hand right now." I gestured to my left arm hanging in the sling and Zoro looked at it with a frown, "What's with the face?"

"Weren't you not pissed off at me for getting hurt back in Orange Town?" Oh so _that's _what was bothering him!

I grinned, not believing my ears at the concerned tone evident in his voice, "Awe, are you saying you're worried about me?~"

"Damn it, woman! Get that creepy look off you're face!" Just then, an apple smacked Zoro straight in the back of the head before another was thrown at me but I easily caught it. It wasn't that hard to catch though to begin with, "Who threw that!?" The swordsman growled, eyes darting from Nami and Luffy. I rolled my eyes, taking a bite into the apple and making a slightly sour face, they were kinda soft.

Shitty...

"Maybe try the person standing right next to a fucking barrel full of apples?" I gestures to Nami who was giving us an unamused look, hands on her hips and a brow raised. Zoro seemed to have forgotten about his irritation with me in favor of eating the slightly soft apple, I took another bite of mine and raised a brow at her, "What?"

"You guys are so ill prepared, that's what. You bring no water and barely any food yet still try and brave the sea. I'm surprised you guys lasted so long." Nami sighed, resting an elbow on the edge of her boat and placing her chin in her palm.

"Oi, if it wasn't for the fact that _I'm_ in charge of the food, these two would have been much worse off. So don't put me in the same boat as..." I stopped, looked around at where I was and swore, "Fuck...the irony isn't amusing right now..."

"Oh, I see something!" Everyone turned to Luffy (with Zoro settling back into his sleeping position) to see what he was pointing at. I went to my bag and pulled out my telescope, looking through it to see a small island out in the distance, "Hey, there's an island!"

Nami merely sighed, telling us that it uninhabited and that we should move on. Of course, Zoro and I had listened to "captain's order" and started to get ready to sail to it...actually it was more like Zoro didn't move and I picked up an oar to start rowing until Luffy pulled it from my hand, telling me that I couldn't row with one hand and that Zoro was still injured. So as Luffy rowed the boat, brimming with excitement, I leaned against the mast of the boat and watched as Nami yelled at us to wait for her.

We got to the island and made sure the boats weren't going anywhere for when we left. Luffy kept bugging Zoro to come with us but I bonked him on the head, telling him that the poor guy was already fast asleep again and that he was still injured so he _needed_ the rest. I quickly tucked my blanket around the swordsman (secretly ruffling his hair which was surprisingly very soft) before hopping back off the boat and going to Nami and Luffy, "Shouldn't _you_ also stay here and watch the boats?" Nami asked, placing her hands on her hips and I blinked at her.

"What? Hell no, I need to stretch my legs or I'll go nuts!" Being the active person I was, having to stay put for an extended period of time made my restless and my legs hurt...then again, that could be from the Restless Leg Syndrome but I wasn't about to argue with myself about details. Luffy automatically started towards the forest boldly, leaving me to unquestionably follow him and Nami to panic slightly about possible dangerous wildlife, "Nami, I doubt anything dangerous is on this island. I mean, I think we would have heard something...by...now?" I trailed off as a strange looking animal that looked like a cross between some type of dog and a chicken walked by. Everyone stared at it as it walked by onto the shore and plopped down to enjoy the sun. I looked back to Nami and grinned, "See, nothing dangerous!"

"That thing is also part coyote!"

"Na, I think its part wolf and part rooster..."

"Don't argue semantics!"

"Hey, where's Luffy?" Nami and I looked around to find that Luffy had wandered off so with a heavy sigh from us both, we went deeper into the forest to look for Luffy.

I couldn't help but to feel as if someone was watching us.

* * *

><p><strong>Next Chapter: <strong>A man in a box and a search for treasure!

**Sorry if the update took a while, graveyard shifts are brutal T-T**

**You are free to guess which Straw Hat the brothers will be with and once they come into the story, the POV is going to be expanded.**

**F.R.F.  
><strong>**Maillet**


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